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L, 


UNIVERSITY  OF  OREGON  PUBLICATION 

Vol.  I.  September,  1920  No.  7 


A  STUDY  OF  THE  MENTAL,  PEDAGOGICAL  AND  PHYS- 
ICAL DEVELOPMENT   OF   THE   PUPILS   OF   THE 
JUNIOR  DIVISION  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY 
HIGH  SCHOOL,  EUGENE,  OREGON 


BY 
GILES  MUEEEL  EUCH 

.  Principal  of  the  University  High  School  and 

•■'*  Assistant  Professor  of  Education 

^  University  of  Oregon 

0- 


A) 


OUTLINE 

Section  I.     Introductory. 

A.  Statement  of  the  Problem. 

B.  Nature  and  Scope  of  the  Investigation. 
Section  II.     Tests  of  General  Intelligence. 

A.  Individual. 

1.  Stanford  Eevision  of  Binet-Simon  Tests. 

B.  Group  Tests. 

1.  Army  Group  Examination  Alpha. 

2.  Chicago  Group  Intelligence  Test. 

C.  Teachers'  Estimates. 

Section  III.     Acceleration,  Eetardatiou,  and  School  Progress. 
Section  IV.     Measures  of  School  Attainment. 

A.  School  Marks. 

B.  Standard  Educational  Tests. 

1.  Courtis  Standard  Eesearch  Tests  in  Arithmetic. 

2.  Kansas  Silent  Beading  Tests. 

3.  Gregory  Language  Tests. 

4.  Ayres  Spelling  Lists. 

5.  Ayres  Handwriting  Scale. 

6.  Douglass  Standard  Diagnostic  Algebra  Tests. 
Section  V.     Anthropometric  Measurements. 

A.  Height. 

B.  Weight. 

C.  Lung  Capacity. 

D.  Strength  of  Grip. 

Section  VI.     Correlations,  Discussion,  and  Conclusions. 

A.  Eeliability   of   Tests   of   Intelligence   in   Comparison   with   Teachers' 

Estimates. 

B.  Use  of  Tests  as  a  Basis  for  Sjiecial  or  Forced  Promotions. 

C.  Eelation  of  Intelligence  to  Eetardation. 

D.  Physical  Factors  in  Eelation  to  School  Work. 

E.  Correlations  in  School  Abilities. 

F.  Establishment  of  Just  Standards  for  School  Accomplishment. 
-G.  Conclusion. 


1] 


study  of  Pupil  Development 

SECTION  I. 
INTEODUCTORY 

The  Problem 

The  purpose  of  this  investigation  is  that  of  suggesting  in  several 
directions  how  the  methods  of  the  scientific  study  of  educational 
problems  through  the  medium  of  the  various  tests  of  general  intelli- 
gence, pedagogical  attainment,  physical  development,  and  the  like, 
can  be  applied  to  the  practical  problems  of  school  administration. 

The  position  is  taken  here  that  these  types  of  objective  measure- 
ments mentioned  above,  although  admittedly'  as  yet  in  the  experi- 
mental stage,  can  furnish  data  of  the  greatest  value  in  supplement- 
ing the  traditional  methods  long  in  use  as  the  basis  for  promotions, 
assignment  of  school  marks,  establishment  of  just  standards  of 
attainment,  and  many  other  similar  problems  of  the  administrator 
and  teacher.  It  should  be  emphasized  at  the  outset  that  it  is  not 
the  purpose  or  spirit  of  this  discussion  to  advocate  the  substitution 
of  new  and  not  thoroughly  established  practices  for  those  methods 
which  time  has  perfected  and  found  valuable,  but  rather,  to  advo- 
cate the  addition  of  these  newer  methods  as  supplementary  sources 
of  knowledge  and  thus  make  surer  the  validity  of  our  school  room 
practices.  An  imperfect  tool  is  often  better  than  no  tool  at  all  and 
a  new  tool  of  inferior  design  is  often  more  serviceable  than  a  once- 
excellent  old  instrument.  Wliat  is  needed  is  a  judicious  use  of  both 
the  old  and  the  new  methods  of  educational  practice. 

Nature  and  Scope  of  the  Investigation 

The  experimental  work  reported  here  is  confined  to  the  three 
grades  of  the  junior  division  of  the  University  High  School  at 
Eugene,  Oregon.  These  are  the  three  years  of  the  typical  junior 
high  school  under  the  6-3-3  plan,  i.  e.,  extending  from  the  seventh 
up  to  and  including  the  ninth  grades.  The  classifications  dealing 
with  age  and  grade  and  practically  all  of  the  tests  were  made  dur- 
ing the  second  semester  of  the  school  year  1919-20.  In  a  very  few 
cases  the  data  were  obtained  late  in  the  year  1919.  In  the  grades 
included  there  are  about  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  pupils  rang- 
ing in  age  from  less  than  twelve  years  to  twenty  years  in  one  case. 

The  pupils  of  the  University  High  School  are  practically  an 
unselected  group  as  far  as  entrance  restrictions  or  preferences  for 

^2] 


\\Ci  \ 

1. 

University  of  Oregon  High  School 

admission  are  concerned.  In  accordance  with  an  agreement  entered 
into  with  the  school  authorities  of  the  city  schools  of  Eugene,  the 
University  High  School  draws  from  a  certain  section  adjacent  to  the 
school  in  much  the  same  way  as  do  the  other  separate  schools  of  the 
city.  However,  in  spite  of  this  arrangement,  the  students  of  the 
school  represent  a  composite  group  composed  of  two  distinct  and 
very  different  elements.  The  first  element  comprises  the  pupils 
from  the  homes  of  people  professionally  connected  with  the  State 
University.  Since  the  school  is  an  integral  part  of  the  School  of 
Education  of  the  University  and  is  located  on  the  campus  in  the 
building  primarily  used  for  the  Department  of  Education,  the 
University  High  School  quite  naturally  draws  heavily  from  faculty 
homes.  It  will  be  shown  later  that  intellectually  and  culturally 
these  pupils  are  above  normal.  The  other  element  presents  a  sharp 
contrast  in  that  this  group  of  pupils  represents  homes  that  are 
socially  and  economically  somewhat  inferior,  if  anything,  to  those 
of  certain  other  districts  of  the  town.  The  parents  of  this  second 
group  are  to  a  large  extent  day  laborers  and  chiefly  of  the  unskilled 
type.  Although  neither  of  these  groups  is  numerically  large,  they 
do  act  as  selective  agencies  which  must  later  be  taken  into  account 
in  certain  of  the  findings  discussed  in  this  paper. 
The  tests  given  fall  into  three  classes: 

1.  Tests  of  general  intelligence. 

2.  Standard  educational  tests. 

3.  Physical  or  anthropometric  measurements. 

In  each  case  several  different  types  of  tests  are  given  and  these 
will  be  discussed  under  the  appropriate  headings  in  later  sections 
of  this  study.  The  final  section  will  deal  with  the  attempt  to  cor- 
relate and  classify  these  diverse  measurements,  to  show  their  admin- 
istrative implications,  to  suggest  problems  which  can  be  attacked  by 
this  method,  and,  finally,  to  draw  certain  conclusions  apparent  in 
the  statistical  treatments  used  here  which  are  of  interest  to  school 
administrators  and  teachers  in  the  public  schools,  particularly  in 
junior  high  schools. 

Specific  acknowledgments  for  assistance  in  the  work  reported 
here  are  numerous  since  the  detailed  experimentation  was  done  at 
all  times  in  a  co-operative  way.  Especially  was  the  assistance  of 
Professor  H.  R.  Douglass  of  the  Department  of  Education  of  the 
greatest  value  at  all  times,  both  in  a  material  way  and  for  helpful 
criticisms.  Together  with  Mr.  Peter  L.  Spencer,  the  former  is 
chiefly  responsible  for  the  section  on  standard  educational  tests. 

[3] 


Study  of  Pupil  Development 

Miss  Lexie  Strachan,  Mr.  George  E.  Finnerty  and  the  writer  gave 
the  individual  Binet  examinations.  The  first  two  mentioned  worked 
under  the  direct  supervision  of  Professor  B.  W.  DeBusk  of  this 
department.  Mr.  Finnerty  also  assisted  with  the  physical  measure- 
ments for  the  boys  and  Professor  Harriet  W.  Thomson  of  the 
Department  of  Physical  Education  for  Women  of  the  University 
kindly  gave  the  services  of  her  class  in  anthropometry  for  the 
physical  measurements  of  the  girls.  Miss  Strachan  also  checked 
some  of  the  statistical  treatments.  The  following  members  of  the 
University  High  School  staff  made  the  estimates  of  intelligence 
quoted  in  Section  III :  Professor  Douglass,  Mrs.  Geo.  B.  Goodall, 
Mrs.  Edith  B.  Pattee,  Mrs.  Geo.  S.  Bendshadler,  Mr.  Victor  P. 
Morris  and  Mr.  Peter  L.  Spencer. 

SECTION  II. 
TESTS  OF  GENERAL  INTELLIGENCE 

For  the  purposes  of  this  investigation  it  was  finally  decided  that 
the  Binet-Simon  tests  as  revised  and  extended  by  Dr.  L.  M.  Terman 
and  his  associates  offered  the  highest  degree  of  reliability  of  any 
single  criterion  of  native  ability  or  general  intelligence.  These 
tests  have  been  carefully  standardized  and  have  the  additional 
advantage  of  having  been  widely  used  upon  California  and  eastern 
children.  If  marked  sectional  differences  exist  in  the  results  of  the 
use  of  intelligence  tests,  Oregon  children  would  be  likely  to  resemble 
California  school  pupils  more  closely  than  those  of  eastern  states. 

The  tests  were  in  all  cases  given  in  a  quiet  room  with  only 
subject  and  examiner  present.  Care  was  taken  to  establish  a  good 
working  "rapport"  between  the  pupil  and  the  examiner.  The  exam- 
iners were  in  all  cases  persons  trained  in  psychological  methods  and 
the  technique  of  intelligence  testing.  In  cases  of  doubtful  points  in 
scoring  all  three  examiners  joined  in  arriving  at  an  agreement. 
With  few  exceptions  the  responses  of  the  pupils  were  recorded 
verbatim  upon  the  regular  test  forms  supplied  by  the  author  of  the 
tests. 

The  group  tests  used  were  two  in  number,  the  Array  Group 
Examination  Alpha  and  the  Chicago  Group  Intelligence  Test  de- 
vised by  Freeman  and  Rugg.  In  each  case  the  exact  directions  fur- 
nished by  the  authors  were  followed  without  deviation.  It  was  the 
original  intention  to  use  other  group  tests  as  supplementary  and 

[41 


University  of  Oregon  High  School 

corroborative  data,  but  this  was  later  given  up  because  of  the 
marked  danger  of  introducing  practice  effects  since  there  is  a  consid- 
erable degree  of  similarity  between  most  of  the  group  tests  in  use  to- 
day. The  sizes  of  the  groups  taking  the  tests  varied  from  ten  to 
sixty,  but  at  no  time  was  a  larger  number  tested  at  any  one  time.  A 
large  well-lighted  room  with  arm-rest  chairs  was  used  for  the  exam- 
inations. All  of  the  group  tests  were  given  by  the  writer  with  one  or 
more  assistants  present  to  supervise  the  work.  It  is  interesting  to 
record  that  not  a  single  attempt  at  cheating  was  noted  bj^  the 
examiners  in  any  of  the  tests. 

It  is  not  thought  that  group  tests  do  more  than  approximate  the 
accuracy  of  the  individual  examinations  but  they  do  possess  certain 
advantages  from  the  administrative  point  of  view  which  weigh 
heavily  in  actual  school  practice,  viz.,  the  great  economy  in  time 
consumed  in  giving  the  tests.  A  group  of  one  or  even  two  hundred 
pupils  may  be  tested  in  forty-five  minutes  with  the  Alpha  test  or  in 
slightly  less  than  thirty  minutes  with  the  Freeman-Rugg  scale.  It 
would  therefore  be  possible  to  test  entire  schools  where  the  enroll- 
ment does  not  exceed  the  number  stated  above  at  one  time.  An 
hour's  time  cannot  well  be  held  to  be  prohibitive,  and  there  are  few 
sources  of  information  of  vital  significance  which  are  more  econom- 
ical in  time  or  effort  expended.  More  will  be  said  later  on  upon  the 
topic  of  the  practical  applications  of  intelligence  ratings. 

Tables  1-10  and  graph  1  summarize  the  various  findings  and  are 
self-explanatory  for  the  most  part.  Table  1  gives  the  classification 
of  the  degrees  of  intelligence  as  tentatively  suggested  by  Professor 
L,  M.  Terman  of  Stanford  University. 

TABLE   1 

Terman 's  Classification  of  the  Intelligence  Quotients* 

7.  Q.  Classification. 

Above  140 "  Near ' '  genius  or  genius. 

120-140 Very  superior  intelligence. 

110-120 Superior  intelligence. 

90-110 Normal,  or  average  intelligence. 

80-90 Dullness,  rarely  classifiable  as  feeble-mindedness. 

70-80 Border-line    deficiency,    sometimes   classifiable   as    dull- 
ness, often  as  feeble-mindedness. 
Below  70 Definite  feeble-mindedness. 

In  the  tables  of  the  distributions  of  the  scores  which  follow,  the 
scores  fo-  the  Army  Alpha  are  in  all  cases  the  "raw"  scores;  in  the 

♦Terman,   L.   M.  :      The   Measurement  of   Intelligence,    Houghton    Mifflin    Co.,    Boston, 
1916,  p.  79. 

[51 


study  of  Pupil  Development 


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[6] 


University  of  Oregon  High  School 

Freeman-Rugg  tests,  the  scores  are  weighted  according  to  their 
standards.  The  number  of  pupils  included  varies  from  116  to  121 
in  the  separate  distributions  since  a  very  few  pupils  missed  one  or 
more  of  the  tests  due  to  absence  from  school.  One  hundred  and 
sixteen  took  all  three  intelligence  tests. 

Table  6  shows  the  comparative  reliabilities  of  the  two  group 
•tests  as  shown  by  the  degree  of  correlation  existing  between  them 
and  the  mental  age  ratings  of  the  individual  Stanford  Binet  tests. 
The  reliability  of  the  Alpha  test  appears  to  be  somewhat  greater, 
the  Pearson  coefficient  of  correlation  being  0.73  in  comparison  with 
0.62  for  the  Chicago  scale.  It  should  be  remembered  at  this  point 
that  the  latter  is  a  briefer  test  from  the  standpoint  of  the  time  used 
in  giving,  and  that  this  fact  would,  everything  else  being  equal, 
explain  any  small  difference  in  the  reliability  of  the  tests.  The  same 
table  shows  that  the  individual  tests  of  the  two  scales  show  similar 
differences  in  the  size  of  the  coefficients  of  correlation  in  favor  of 
the  army  tests. 

Tables  8  and  9  are  devoted  to  the  question  of  the  reliability  of 
teachers'  estimates.  Table  8  shows  the  results  of  six  experienced 
teachers'  ratings  under  very,  if  not  unusually,  favorable  circum- 
stances. The  six  teachers  making  the  ratings  were  all  intimately 
acquainted  with  the  pupils  rated,  in  fact,  they  were  instructed  to 
omit  from  consideration  any  pupils  with  whom  they  were  little 
acquainted  and  where  the  ratings  would  be  little  more  than  guesses. 
The  instructions  were  to  assign  each  pupil  of  the  school  a  rank  of 
from  I  to  X  in  the  order  of  the  most  intelligent  to  the  dullest. 
These  ten  groups  were  then  re-ranked  within  the  groups  and  the 
pupils  numbered  1,  2,  3,  etc.  Thus  it  was  possible  to  arrange  all  the 
pupils  of  the  school  into  one  list.  It  must  be  noted  that  the  pro- 
cedure in  obtaining  these  ratings  was  very  different  from  that  used 
by  most  investigators  in  that  the  instructions  included  a  number  of 
specific  cautions  against  "certain  typical  forms  of  error  likely  to 
arise  in  estimating  intelligence.  The  teachers  were  warned  against 
the  following : 

1.  Always  consider  age  in  relation  to  grade.  A  pupil  might  appear  more 
intelligent  than  most  of  his  class  because  of  being  two  or  more  years  older  than 
his  fellows  and  be  in  reality  a  dull  rather  than  a  bright  pupil.  (The  exact  age 
to  the  nearest  month  was  furnished  on  the  lists  given  to  each  teacher.) 

2.  Bright  looks,  vivacity,  snappiness  of  manner,  alertness,  sparkling  eyes, 
bluff,  loquacity,  etc.,  often  pass  for  intelligence. 

3.  Good  work  habits,  high  grades,  etc.,  often  pass  for  ability.  Likewise  the 
tendency  is  to  underrate  the  lazy  pupil. 

4.  Disciplinary  considerations  often  influence  the  teacher  making  the  rating. 

[7] 


study  of  Pupil  Development 

Under  the  circumstances  as  described  in  the  foregoing  it  is  not 
surprising  that  the  teachers'  ratings  show  such  high  degrees  of 
reliabilicy  as  is  evidenced  by  the  correlations  of  table  8.  In  some 
eases  the  individual  teachers  used  several  hours  in  the  course  of 
arriving  at  the  estimates.  In  view  of  these  considerations,  it  seems 
entirely  likelj^  that  our  results  represent  a  close  approximation  to 
the  best  results  to  be  obtained  by  the  method  of  estimation. 
Terman  and  Proctor*  did  not  report  such  high  coefficients  as  our 
stud}'',  the  combined  estimates  showing  an  r  equal  to  0.59  in  com- 
parison with  0.68  for  the  pooled  results  of  the  six  University  High 
School  teachers.    The  average  r  was  likewise  0.68. 

In  order  to  compare  the  results  of  inexperienced  teachers  with 
those  of  the  regular  staff  of  the  school,  ten  practice  teachers  were 
asked  to  rate  the  pupils  of  their  own  classes.  No  cautions  or  explan- 
ations which  were  of  value  in  guarding  against  errors  were  given 
this  group  of  teachers,  mostly  University  seniors.  Table  9  gives  the 
results  of  their  estimates.  Here  the  average  is  approximately  0.50. 
Aside  from  the  directions  given  to  the  regular  teachers,  the  practice 
teachers  worked  under  more  favorable  conditions  since  they  rated 
only  pupils  in  their  ovni  classes  and  in  all  cases  the  numbers  were 
much  smaller.  As  has  often  been  pointed  out  correlations  of  the 
inexperienced  teachers'  ratings  with  school  marks  are  almost  cer- 
tain to  prove  greater  than  such  ratings  with  the  results  of  intelli- 
gence tests,  showing  that  school  work  is  a  chief  basis  for  such  esti- 
mates. In  the  case  of  practice  teacher  "J,"  these  correlations  are, 
respectively,  0.68  and  0.26. 

Table  10  is  included  as  a  presentation  of  the  displacement  of 
pupils  by  the  method  of  estimates  from  the  order  determined  by  the 
use  of  the  Binet  tests  upon  the  rough  assumption  that  the  groups 
I  to  X  of  the  estimates  correspond  to  certain  ranges  of  the  I.  Q. 
Less  than  one-fifth  of  the  pupils  appear  to  be  correctly  located 
(]6.9  per  cent)  but  about  three-fifths  are  correctly  located  or  not 
seriously  displaced  (61.3  per  cent  no  more  than  one  group).  How- 
ever, a  displacement  of  two  or  more  groups  occurs  almost  two  out  of 
five  times  (38.9  per  cent)  and  this  amount  of  error  might  in  extreme 
cases  displace  a  pupil  for  a  distance  equal  to  that  of  the  difference 
between  the  highest  and  lowest  quartiles  at  certain  parts  of  the 
range.  More  will  be  said  at  a  later  time  about  the  possibility  of 
teachers'  estimates  approximating  the  value  of  the  tests  of 
intelligence. 


♦Terman,  L.  M.  :     The  Intelligence  of  School  Children,  Boston,  1919.  Houghton  MiflBin, 
pp.  84-86. 

18] 


University  of  Oregon  High  School 


TABLE  2 


Showing  the  distribution  of  mental  and  chronological  ages  of  121  pupils  of 
the  junior  diWsion  (grades  7-9  inclusive). 


Age 

9 

10 

11 

12       13       14 

15 

16 

17 

18 

19 

20 

C.  A 

....    0 

0 

4 

24       37       24 

IS 

7 

5 

0 

1 

1 

M.  A 

1 

4 

6 

8       19       30 
TABIiE  3 

18 

18 

12 

5 

0 

0 

Showing  the  distribution  of  the  scores  in  Army  Alpha  for  the  three  grades  of 
the  junior  division. 

0-19         20-39         40-59         60-79         80-99  100-119  120-139  140-159 

1  2  13  27  29  24  15  5 


TABLE  4 

Showing  the  distribution  of  the  scores  in  the  Chicago  Group  Intelligence  Test 
for  the  three  grades  of  the  junior  division. 

0-9  10-19  20-29  30-39  40-49  50-59  60-69  70-79 

1  12  22  31  27  12  11  2 


TABLE  5 

Showing  the  median  scores  in  the  several  intelligence   tests  for  the  three 
grades  of  the  junior  division. 

C.  A.  M.  A.  I.  Q.  Alpha  Chicago 

13-11  14-9  107.0  89.0  38.0 


TABLE  6^ 

Showing  the  Pearson  coefficients  of  correlation  between  the  mental  ages 
obtained  by  the  Stanford  Revision  of  the  Binet-Simon  tests  and  the  two-group 
scales. 

r  P.  E. 

Army  Group  Examination  Alpha    0.728  .033 

Chicago  Group  Intelligence  Test   0.622  .038 

The  separate  tests: 


Chicago 

Army 

Alpha 

r                P.E. 

r 

P.E. 

' '  Opposites ' ' 

(1) 

0.372             .053 

(4) 

0.596 

.042 

"Nimiber  Completion" 

(2) 
(3) 

0.368             .054 
0.479             .048 

(5) 

0.418 

.052 

*  *  Analogies ' ' 

(4) 

0.475             .048 

(7) 

0.460 

.050 

"Best  Reasons" 

(5) 

0.400             .052 

(3) 

0.456 

0.50 

No.  pupils 

118 

116 

*RucH,  G.  M.  and  Strachan,  Lexie:  A  Comparison  of  Intelligence  Ratinjrs  Obtained 
by  the  Use  of  Two  GroufTScales  with  those  of  the  Stanford  Revision  of  the  Binet  Tests. 
To  appear  in  the  Journal  of  Educational  Psychology,  October.  1920. 

[9] 


Study  of  Pupil  Development 


TABLE  7 

Showing  the  distribution  of  the  I.  Q.'s  for  the  121  pupils  of  the  junior 
division  of  the  University  High  School,  Eugene,  Oregon,  in  absolute  numbers 
and  percentages,  in  comparison  with  the  distributions  for  Terman's  905  unse- 
lected  children*  and  Chase  and  Carpenter's  composite  group  at  Chapel  Hill, 
North  Carolina.! 


I.  Q. 


56-65 

66-75 

76-85 

86-95 

96-105 

106-115 

116-125 

126-135 

136-145 


University  High  School 


Absolute 
Numbers. 

2 

5 

5 
21 
27 
21 
22 
15 

3 


Percent- 
ages. 
1.4 
4.2 
4.2 

17.4 

22.3 

17.4 

18.2 

12.4 
2.5 


Terman 

Chapel  Hill 

Percent- 

Percent- 

ages. 

ages. 

0.33 

1.5 

2.3 

7.7 

8.6 

20.0 

20.1 

43.1 

33.9 

23.1 

23.1 

4.6 

9.0 

0.0 

2.3 

0.0 

0.55 

0.0 

TABLE  8 

Showing  the  correlations  of  the  individual  teachers'  estimates  and  the 
pooled  estimates  of  the  six  teachers  with  the  intelligence  quotients  as  obtained 
by  the  Binet  tests. 


Teacher 

r                    P.E. 

N. 

A 

0.70                   .041 

72 

B 

0.71                   .034 

96 

C 

0.72                   .060 

29 

D 

0.70                   ,051 

45 

E 

0.66                   .044 

75 

F 

0.61                   .047 

80 

Pooled 

0.68                   ,037 

95 

Average 

0.68 

TABLE  9 

Showing  the  correlations  of  ten  individual  practice  teachers'  estimates  of 
intelligence  with  the  I.  Q.  of  the  Binet  tests. 


Teacher 

r 

A 

0.54 

B 

0.16 

C 

0.76 

D 

0.46 

E 

0.54 

F 

0.48 

G 

0.36 

H 

0.67 

I 

0.76 

J 

0.26 

Average 

0.495. 

P.E. 

.108 
.170 
.063 
.140 
.195 
.122 
.170 
.166 
.078 
.113 


N. 
20 
15 
20 
14 

6 
18 
12 

5 
13 
31 


Subject  Taught 
Biology 
English 

General  Science 
General  Science 
French 
Algebra 
English 
French 

General  Science 
Art 


*Terman,  L.  M.  :  The  Measurement  of  Intelligrenoe,  Boston,  1916,  Houghton  Mifflin 
Co.,  p.  66. 

+CHASE,  H.  W.  and  Carpenter.  C.  C.  :  The  Response  of  a  Composite  Group  to  the 
Stanford  Revision  of  the  Binet-Simon  Tests,  Journal  of  Educational  PsycholoKv  10  1919 
pp.  178-188. 


[10] 


University  of  Oregon  High  School 


TABLE  10 

Showing  the  displacement  of  pupils  in  terms  of  the  number  of  groups  which 
would  result  upon  the  basis  of  the  use  of  the  pooled  estimates  of  six  experi- 
enced teachers  working  under  the  most  favorable  circumstances  (r=0.68  with 

the  I.  Q.)- 

Displacement  in  terms  of  groups. 

Group.  I.  Q-  0       1       2       S  4  5 

I.  Corresponding  to  140  or  above  14       3       2  0  0 

II.  Corresponding  to  130-139  15       4       3  0  0 

III.  Corresponding  to  120-129  4       7       4       2  2  0 

rV.  Corresponding  to  110-119  2       8       2       10  0 

V.  Corresponding  to  100-109  5       6       2       0  0  0 

VI.  Corresponding  to  90-99  16       10  10 

VII.  Corresponding  to  80-89  0       4       2       0  0  0 

VIII.  Corresponding  to  70-79  0       13       3  0  0 

IX.  Corresponding  to  60-69  2       0       0       0  0  0 

X.  Corresponding  to  Below  60  0       1110  0 

Totals   (2^=95)  16     42     22     12  3  0 

In  percentages  16.9  44.2  23.2  12.6  3.1  0.0 

Summary 

Percentage  correctly  located  (no  displacement)    16.9 

Percentage  displaced  not  more  than  one  group   61.1 

Percentage  displaced  more  than  one  group 38.9 

Percentage  displaced  more  than  two  groups l'^-8 

Percentage  displaced  more  than  three  groups   3-1 


SECTION  III. 

ACCELERATION,  RETARDATION,  AND  SCHOOL 
PROGRESS. 

In  the  tables  which  follow,  particularly  the  age-grade  table, 
acceleration  and  retardation  were  determined  upon  the  basis  advo- 
cated by  Dr.  L.  P.  Ayres*  with  one  slight  modification,  viz.,  in 
locating  age  according  to  grade  the  pupil  was  considered  to  be  at 
the  age  in  which  50  per  cent  or  more  of  the  year's  work  for  that 
grade  was  done  instead  of  using  the  September-entering  ages  as 
most  others  have  done.  This  is  obviously  somewhat  truer  to  the 
facts  and  is  advantageous  in  certain  comparisons  in  which  the  exact 
age  in  years  and  months  must  be  used.  Table  11  gives  the  age- 
grade  distribution  for  the  three  grades,  in  actual  numbers  and  per- 
centages, and  by  sexes.  Summaries  of  the  same  data  are  given  in 
tables  12  and  13. 


•Ayres,  L.  P.:     Laggards  in  Our  Schools,  N.  Y.,  Russel  Sage,  1909. 
tlBH).,  p.  45. 


[11] 


Study  of  Pupil  Development 

The  chief  facts  of  interest  in  these  tables  are :  First,  the  extra- 
ordinarily large  amount  of  acceleration  in  the  school,  amounting  to 
about  one-third  of  the  total  enrollment ;  and,  secondly,  the  small 
number  classifiable  as  "at  age"  for  grade.  On  the  other  hand  the 
amount  of  retardation  is  about  that  of  schools  generally  in  this 
section.  Ayresf  reports  30.7  per  cent  for  the  Portland,  Oregon, 
schools  and  the  figures  for  the  Eugene  city  schools  run  not  far  from 
30  per  cent. 

The  opportunity  is  presented  here  to  call  attention  to  certain 
facts  about  the  problems  of  acceleration  and  retardation  that  have 
been  neglected  in  most  of  the  past  studies  but  which  are  made  pos- 
sible by  the  use  of  tests  of  general  intelligence.  If  an  age-grade  table 
is  prepared  using  mental  ages  instead  of  the  actual  ages  as  was  done 
in  preparing  table  11,  we  find  a  strikingly  different  arrangement  as 
is  shown  in  table  14.  The  number  of  pupils  "at  grade"  becomes 
less  and  the  retarded  group  increases  to  include  almost  one-half  of 
the  total  number  (46.2  per  cent).  This  change  can  be  roughly  de- 
scribed by  the  statement  that :  The  accelerated  pupils  upon  the 
basis  of  actual  age  tend  to  hecome  retarded  upon  the  basis  of 
mental  age,  and  that  the  reverse  holds  for  the  group  considered 
retarded  by  the  usual  standards.  That  this  conclusion  is  actually 
true  in  individual  cases  as  well  as  in  the  mass  in  shown  by  tables 
15,  16  and  17  where  the  exact  changes  resulting  from  re-classifica- 
tion by  mental  ages  are  shown  in  detail. 

At  this  point  it  is  necessary  that  certain  qualifications  be  stated 
in  order  to  avoid  implications  which  are  not  to  be  defended  here. 
The  re-grouping  of  pupils  for  mental  ages  is  not  intended  to  serve 
as  an  argument  for  placing  pupils  in  the  grades  demanded  by  the 
mental  ages,  nor  is  it  intended  to  assume  that  such  mental  age  rat- 
ings are  exact  equivalents  in  all  respects  to  the  normal  mentality  at 
the  given  year,  e.  g.,  that  a  child  of  twelve  testing  at  18  years  men- 
tally should  be  placed  in  grade  12,  the  normal  grade  for  18-3^ear-old 
pupils.  The  only  implication  is  that  since  a  mental  age  greater  than 
the  actual  age  in  any  pupil  is  an  indication  of  brightness,  the 
accelerated  pupils  (who  are  rather  generally  of  superior  ability) 
are  really  retarded  upon  the  basis  of  their  true  ability,  and  that 
the  reverse  is  true  of  retarded  pupils  (who  tend  to  be  of  sub-normal 
ability).  Table  18  shows  clearly  that  in  every  grade  the  acceler- 
ated pupils  (who  are,  of  course,  actually  younger)  are  older  men- 
tally ("brighter")  than  the  normal  children,  and  that  this  superi- 
ority is  in  turn  evident  for  the  normal  pupil  in  comparison  with  the 

[12  1 


University  of  Oregon  High  School 


TABLE  11 

Showing  the  Age-Grade  distribution  for  the  pupils  of  the  three  grades  of 
the  junior  ^division  of  the  University  High  School,  February  1,  1920. 


Study  of  Pupil  Development 

retarded  one.  The  conclusion  can  safely  be  drawn  that,  mentally 
speaking,  the  accelerated  pupils  are  really  to  a  greater  or  less  de- 
gree retarded.  This  conclusion  also  finds  support  in  table  5  of  the 
preceding  section  where  it  was  shown  that  the  pupils  of  the  Uni- 
versity High  School  show  a  median  I.  Q.  of  107.0  in  comparison 
with  the  normal  100.0  for  unselected  children.  This  means  that 
practically  one-half  of  the  120  pupils  of  this  school  reach  the  level 
of  intelligence  of  the  highest  one-quarter  of  children  generally. 

The  relations  between  these  facts  of  acceleration  and  retardation 
and  other  portions  of  the  experimental  data  will  be  taken  up  again 
in  connection  with  the  questions  of  grades,  standard  educational 
tests,  and  the  general  discussions  of  later  sections. 


TABLE  12 

Showing  the  absolute  numbers  and  percentages  of  acceleration  and  retard- 
ation for  the  three  grades  of  the  junior  division.     Sexes  separate. 

Absolute 

Numbers  Percentages 

Accelerated — 

Boys  18  31.0 

Girls  22  35.5 
Normal — 

Boys  22  37.9 

Girls  22  35.5 
Eetarded — 

Boys  18  31.0 

Girls  18  29.0 


TABLE  13 

Showing  the  absolute  numbers  and  percentages  of  accelerated,  normal,  and 
retarded  pupils  for  the  three  grades.     Sexes  combined. 

Absolute 

Numbers      Percentages 

Accelerated  40  33.3 

Normal  44  36.7 

Eetarded  36  30.0 

Total  120  100.0 


[14] 


University  of  Oregon  High  School 


TABLE  14 
Showing  the  absolute  numbers  and  percentages  of  accelerated,  normal,  and 
retarded  pupils  for  the  three  grades  on  the  basis  of  Mental  Ages.     Sexes  com- 
bined. 

Absolute 


Numbers 

Percentages 

Accelerated 

37 

31.1 

Normal 

27 

22.7 

Eetarded 

55 

46.2 

Total  119  100.0 

TABLE  15 
Showing  the  distribution  of  the  36  pupils  who  are  retarded  by  the  usual 
standards  (i.  e.,  upon  the  basis  of  actual  age)   if  re-plotted  upon  the  basis  of 
Mental  Age,    Sexes  combined.    All  three  grades 

Absolute 

Numbers       Percentages 
Accelerated — 

One  year  6 

Two  years  4 

Three  years  1 

Four  years  4 

Total  15  41.7 

Normal — 

Total  10  27.8 

Eetarded — 

One  year  3 

Two  years  6 

Three  years  0 

Four  years  2 

Total  11  30.5 

TABLE  16 

Showing  the  distribution  of  the  40  pupils  who  are  accelerated  by  the  usual 


standards   (i. 

e.,  actual  or  chronologi 

cal 

age)   if 

re- 

plotted  u 

Mental  Age. 

Sexes  combined.     All  three 

grades. 

Absolute 

Numbers 

Percentages 

Accelerated — 

One  year 
Two  years 
Three  years 

5 
0 

1 

Total 

6 

15.0 

Normal — 

Total 

12 

30.0 

Retarded — 

One  year 
Two  years 
Three  years 
Four  years 

9 

8 
4 
1 

Total  22  55.0 

[15] 


Study  of  Pupil  Development 


TABLE  17 

Showing  the  distribution  of  tlie  44  jjupils  who  are  in  the  normal  grade  by 
the  usual  standards  (i.  e.,  13  for  grade  7,  14  for  grade  8,  and  15  for  grade  9, 
on  the  basis  of  the  actual  ages)  if  re-plotted  upon  the  basis  of  Mental  Ages. 
All  grades.    Sexes  combined. 

Absolute 

Numbers       Percentages 
Accelerated — 

One  year  7 

Two  years  3 

Three  years  2 


Total 

12 

27.3 

Normal — 

Total 

10 

22.7 

Eetarded — 

One  year 

5 

Two  years 

10 

Three  years 

6 

Four  years 

1 

Total 


22 


50.0 


TABLE  18 

Showing  the  median  scores  for  the  tests  of  general  intelligence,  both  indi- 
vidual and  group  tests,  for  the  accelerated,  normal,  and  retarded  groups  of  the 
seventh,  eighth,  and  ninth  grades. 


Number 

Binet-Simon   ( 

Stanford) 

Alpha 

Chicai 

Grade  7 

Pupils 

C.A. 

M.A. 

I.Q. 

Accelerated 

6 

11-11 

15-1 

124.0 

82.5 

43.0 

Normal 

19 

12-11 

14-1 

111.0 

70.0 

36.0 

Retarded 

10 

14-  9 

13-1 

90.0 

54.5 

26.5 

Grade  8— 

Accelerated 

25 

13-  0 

14-9 

115.0 

106.0 

43.0 

Normal 

13 

14-  0 

14-8 

101.0 

70.0 

26.5 

Eetarded 

14 

15-  7 

13-9 

89.5 

62.0 

29.5 

Grade  9 — 

Accelerated 

9 

14-  0 

17-0 

122.0 

137.0 

56.0 

Normal 

12 

14-11 

16-9 

110.5 

118.0 

55.5 

Retarded 

11 

16-  3 

14-3 

90.0 

93.0 

47.5 

Grades  7,  8, 

and  9  Combin 

ed— 

Accelerated 

40 

13-  2 

15-2 

117.0 

104.0 

43.0 

Normal 

44 

13-  7 

15-0 

105.0 

85.0 

35.5 

Retarded 

35 

15-  9 

14-1 

90.0 

79.0 

31.0 

[16 


University  of  Oregon  High  School 

SECTION  IV. 
MEASURES  OF  SCHOOL  ATTAINMENT 

For  the  purposes  of  portraying  pedagogical  standing  and  school 
progress,  two  types  of  measurements  are  available  in  addition  to 
age-grade  classification.  These  are  teachers'  marks  and  the  scores 
in  standard  educational  tests.  Both  will  be  considered  in  discussing 
this  phase  of  this  investigation. 

The  average  grade  of  each  pupil  was  determined  for  the  first 
semester  of  the  present  school  year,  1919-20.  Such  an  average 
represents,  therefore,  the  combined  estimates  of  from  two  to  five 
teachers  of  the  ability  of  the  pupil  in  as  many  school  subjects.  In 
obtaining  such  averages  no  effort  was  made  to  correct  for  inequal- 
ities arising  from  the  fact  that  certain  pupils  carried  five  or  more 
subjects.  Only  the  "core  subjects"  were  considered,  viz.,  English, 
history,  science,  foreign  language,  and  commerce.  Subjects  reciting 
less  than  five  times  per  week  were  not  included. 

The  list  of  standard  educational  tests  given  to  part  or  all  of  the 
pupils  follows : 

1.  Courtis  Standard  Research  Tests  in  Arithmetic.     Series  B. 

2.  Stone  Reasoning  Tests. 

3.  Gregory  Language  Tests  (devised  by  Prof.  C.  A.  Gregory  of 
this  University). 

4.  Ayres  Spelling  Lists. 

5.  Ayres  Writing  Scale. 

6.  Kansas  Silent  Reading  Test  (devised  by  Dr.  F.  J.  Kelly). 

7.  Douglass  Standard  Diagnostic  Tests  for  Elementary  Alge- 
bra (devised  by  Prof.  H.  R.  Douglass  of  this  University). 

The  standard  tests  were  given  under  the  direction  of  Professor 
H.  R.  Douglass  by  ]\Ir.  Peter  L.  Spencer  and  others.  All  were  given 
during  the  second  semester  of  the  school  year,  chiefly  during  the 
month  of  April,  and  the  exact  technique  of  the  authors  was  used  in 
each  case. 

Tables  19  to  22  show  the  average  grades  earned  by  the  pupils 
classified  in  various  ways  as  to  grade,  sex,  age-grade  distribution, 
and  intelligence.  Tables  23  to  32  give  the  results  in  the  various 
standard  educational  tests  according  to  similar  classifications. 

Space  limits  make  it  imperative  that  the  briefest  possible  discus- 
sion of  these  results  be  attempted.  Only  a  few  of  the  outstanding 
facts  will  be  pointed  out. 

[17] 


Study  of  Pupil  Development 

The  gradiug  system  in  use  in  the  University  High  School  pro- 
vides for  the  assignment  of  seven  letter  grades  as  follows : 

A+  Very  superior  work. 

A  Superior  work  (25  per  cent,  approximately,  receive  A+  or  A). 

B+  High  average. 

B  Low  average  (50  per  cent,  approximately,  receive  B-f-  or  B). 

C  Barely  passing. 

D  Condition  (given  only  during  first  six  weeks  of  any  term). 

E  Failure  (25  per  cent,  approximately,  receive  C.  D.  and  E). 

In  transmuting  these  letter  grades  into  numerical  scores  based 
upon  100  per  cent,  the  mid-points  of  the  intervals  were  taken, 
respectively,  as  97.5,  92.5,  87.5,  82.5,  77.5,  72.5,  and  70.0.  The  last 
is  purely  arbitrary  and  is  probably  in  most  cases  higher  than  the 
true  grade  for  failures. 

The  girls  appear  to  do  superior  work  in  all  grades.  There  are 
no  significant  differences  in  the  average  grades  for  the  different 
years  as  often  is  the  case  in  schools  due,  perhaps,  to  a  tendency  to 
grade  older  pupils  higher  than  younger  ones.  The  median  grade 
for  the  school  falls  at  82.0.  Since  the  grading  system  is  an  ap- 
proximation to  the  distribution  of  the  normal  curve,  the  median 
should  theoretically  fall  close  to  85.0.  However,  in  our  practice,  it 
is  the  policy  to  keep  the  grades  for  the  initial  six  weeks  of  any 
semester  slightly  below  the  norms  for  the  system  in  use  and  allow 
the  grades  to  rise  throughout  the  semester,  for  psychological  rea- 
sons, and  finally  to  approximate  the  true  standards  for  the  school. 
It  is  evident  from  this  that  only  the  grades  of  the  final  six-week 
period  of  any  semester  will  approximate  very  closely  to  the  norms 
and  that  averages  such  as  used  above  will  invariably  run  too  low. 

Tables  21-22  show  how  the  failures  are  distributed  among  the 
pupils  classified,  first,  as  accelerated,  at  age,  or  retarded,  and 
secondly,  as  superior,  average,  or  inferior.  Retarded  pupils  furnish 
six  out  of  ten  failures  (61.1  per  cent),  at  age  pupils  fail  once  out  of 
four  or  five  times  (22.2  per  cent),  and  accelerated  pupils  furnish 
about  one  failure  in  six  (16.7  per  cent).  It  is  evident  that  the 
greater  age  of  the  retarded  pupil  does  not  compensate  for  low  abil- 
ity to  an  extent  that  such  pupils  can  maintain  average  scholarship. 
It  will  be  remembered  that  the  median  grade  for  the  retarded  group 
is  78.0  in  comparison  with  82.5  for  the  at  age  pupils  and  83.0  for 
the  accelerated.  It  should  again  be  pointed  out  that  the  retarded 
group  is  also  younger  mentally  than  the  other  two  groups,  the 
medians  being,  respectively,  14-1,  15-0,.  and  15-2.  Upon  the  basis 
of  the  I.  Q.  as  superior,  normal,  and  inferior,  the  first  group  con- 

[18] 


University  of  Oregon  High  School 

tributes  about  one-tenth  of  the  failures  (11.2  per  cent)  and  each  of 
the  other  two  contribute  equally  the  balance  (44.4  per  cent  each). 

Tables  23  and  24  give  the  summarized  results  in  the  standard 
educational  tests  for  grades  VII  and  VIII.  It  will  be  seen  that  for 
both  grades  the  pupils  of  the  University  High  School  score  well 
above  the  norms  in  all  tests  except  in  the  fundamentals  of  arith- 
metic as  shown  by  the  Courtis  tests  and  in  writing.  That  a  some- 
what poor  showing  in  writing  would  prove  true  is  not  unexpected 
since  the  time  allowed  for  this  work  during  the  past  year  is 
admittedly  too  little.  Owing  to  unusual  conditions  in  the  school 
the  time  allotment  for  penmanship  was  reduced  to  one  hour  per 
week  in  the  seventh  grade  and  in  the  eighth  grade  only  pupils 
markedly  deficient  in  this  respect  w^ere  required  to  take  penman- 
ship. In  view  of  these  unfortunate  conditions,  the  showing  is 
probably  as  good  as  can  be  expected. 

With  respect  to  arithmetic  ability  in  the  tests  of  addition,  sub- 
traction, multiplication,  and  division,  the  reason  at  first  thought 
was  not  at  all  evident.  Consultation  with  the  three  teachers  han- 
dling the  sections  in  arithmetic  showed  that  they  were  unanimous 
in  the  belief  that  the  pupils  had  entered  this  school  from  outside 
schools  seriously  below  normal  in  their  ability  to  handle  these  fun- 
damental processes.  Realizing  that  there  is  always  a  tendency  on 
the  part  of  teachers  to  seek  to  locate  the  blame  in  the  lower  grades 
of  the  elementary  school,  it  was  decided  to  test  out  the  matter  fur- 
ther by  the  use  of  tests  which  deal  with  the  type  of  problems  more 
related  to  the  work  of  the  upper  two  grades.  For  this  purpose  the 
Stone  Reasoning  Tests  were  selected  upon  the  hypothesis  that  since 
the  operations  tested  by  the  Courtis  tests  are  supposedly  mastered 
below  the  seventh  grade,  the  gains  registered  in  these  tests  in  the 
upper  grades  are  chiefly  practice  effects  and  not  due  to  new  direct 
teaching  of  these  processes.  But  the  Stone  tests  provide  a  method 
of  throwing  into  contrast  the  accuracy  of  the  purely  arithmetical 
operations  and  the  reasoning  processes  involved  in  the  solution  of 
problems.  If  then,  the  former  scores  should  be  found  to  be  low  as 
was  the  case  in  the  Courtis  tests,  and  at  the  same  time,  the  scores  in 
the  reasoning  processes  should  prove  to  be  normal  or  above,  it 
would  seem  a  justifiable  conclusion  to  believe  that  the  faulty  in- 
struction was  not  that  of  the  seventh  and  eighth  grades  but  rather 
that  of  grades  six  and  below  where  the  fundamental  processes  are 
completed  as  far  as  direct  instruction  is  concerned.  Table  32  pre- 
sents strong  evidence  that  this  assumption  is  true.     The  question 

[19] 


study  of  Pupil  Development 

will  be  taken  up  in  greater  detail  in  the  last  section  of  this  paper, 
which  is  devoted  to  general  considerations. 

It  should  be  pointed  out  in  comparing  the  results  in  the  standard 
tests  with  the  norms  quoted  that  most  of  our  scores  are  April  scores 
and  not  the  June  scores  upon  which  the  norms  are  based.  This  will 
explain  any  slight  deficiencies  of  an  unfavorable  nature  and  at  the 
same  time  strengthen  any  cases  of  superiority. 

The  norms  quoted  for  the  Gregorj^  Language  Tests  are  tentative 
but  are  based  upon  about  one  thousand  Oregon  school  children 
from  fifty  representative  schools. 

The  list  of  ten  words  used  for  the  tests  in  spelling  was  taken 
from  column  "U"  of  the  Aj'res  scale  and  the  norms  are  those 
accompanying  these  lists. 

For  the  test  materials  in  writing,  the  Gettysburg  speech  of  Lin- 
coln was  used,  beginning  ' '  Four  scora  and  seven  years " 

and  ending  ".  .  .  .  it  is  altogether  fitting  and  proper  that  we 
should  do  this. ' '  The  papers  were  graded  by  the  usual  methods  by 
Mr.  G.  E.  Finnerty  of  this  school. 

TABLE   19 
Showing  the  grades  earned  by  the  pupils  of  the  seventh,  eighth  and  nintb 
grades  during  the  semester  ending  February   5,   1920.     The  figures   represent 
medians  in  all  cases. 


Grade 

N 

Boys 

Girls 

Combined 

7 

34 

80.0 

81.0 

81.0 

8 

53 

80.0 

82.5 

82.0 

9 

32 

81.5 

83.0 

82.0 

ire  3  grades 

119 

80.0 

83.0 

82.0 

TABLE  20 
Showing  the  medians,  averages,  and  ranges   of  the  grades  earned  by   the 
pupils  of  the  three  grades  according  to  age-grade  classification   (?.  e.,  acceler- 
ated, normal,  and  retarded)  and  sex. 


Medians 

Averages 

Hange 

N 

I. 

Accelerated  Grouj^- 

- 

Bovs 

82.5 

82.4 

72-93 

19 

Girls 

84.0 

83.3 

72-94 

22 

Both  Sexes 

83.0 

83.0 

72-94 

41 

IL 

Normal  Group — 

Bovs 

82.5 

82.0 

72-88 

22 

Girls 

82.5 

82.5 

65-95 

22 

Both  Sexes 

82.5 

82.2 

65-95 

44 

IIL 

Retarded  Group — 

Boys 

77.0 

75.1 

67-82 

18 

Girls 

79.0 

79.2 

66-89 

17 

Both  Sexes 

78.0 

77.2 

66-89 

35 

Grou 

js  I,  II,  and  III  Combined — 

Boys 

80.0 

79.9 

67-93 

59 

Girls 

83.0 

'81.8 

65-95 

61 

Both  sexes 

82.0 

80.9 

65-95 

120 

[20] 


University  of  Oregon  High  School 


TABLE  21 

Showing  the  distribution  of  pupils  failing  or  conditioned  (?.  e.,  an  average 
semester  grade  of  74  or  below)  according  to  age-grade  classification  as  acceler- 
ated, normal,  and  retarded. 

Accelerated  Normal  Eetarded  Total 
Xumber  failed 

or  conditioned  3  4  11                 18 

In  percentages  16.7  22.2  61.1  100.0 

Number  in  group  41  .    44  35  120 
Per  cent  of  group 

failed   or   conditioned  7.3  9.1  31.4             15.0 


TABLE  22 

Showing  the  distribution  of  pupils  failing  or  conditioned  {i.e.,  an  average 
semester  grade  of  74  or  below)  according  to  the  classification  as  "Superior" 
(L  Q.,  Ill  or  above),  "Average"  (I.  Q.,  90-110),  and  "Inferior"  (I.  Q.,  89 
or  below). 

"Superior"  "Average"  "Inferior"  Total 


Number  failed 

or  conditioned 

2 

8 

8 

18 

In  percentages 

11.2 

44.4 

44.4 

100.0 

Number  in  group 

50 

50 

20 

120 

Per  cent  of  group 

failed  or  conditioned 

4.0 

16.0 

40.0 

15.0 

TABLE  23 

Showing  the  median  scores  in  the   standard  tests  given   in   grade   VII   in 
comparison  with  the  published  norms. 


Number  a 

ttempted 

Nxinii 

ler  correct 

Score 

Tests              Norm 

U.  H.  S. 

Norm 

U.  H.  S. 

Norm 

U.H.S 

Courtis : 

Addition           10.5 

7.0 

6.5 

4.0 

Subtraction      11.5 

8.0 

8.5 

7.0 

Multiplication  10.0 

6.0 

6.5 

3.5 

Division              8.5 

6.0 

7.0 

5.0 

Kansas  Silent  Reading 

Test 

16.2 

21.4 

Gregory  Language  Test 

23.8* 

26.8 

Ayres  Spelling 

73 

75 

Ayres  Writing 

57 

48 

♦Gregory,  C.  A. :  The  Efficiency  of  Oregon  School  Children  in  tha  Tool  Subjects,  Uni- 
versity of  Oregon  Publication,  1.  No.  1,  1919,  p.  50.  (Tentative  norms  based  upon  1024 
Oregon  seventh  Kradc  pupils  representing  50  schools. ) 


21 


study  of  Pupil  Development 


TABLE  24 


Showing  the  median  scores  in  standard  tests  given  in  grade  VIII  in  com- 
parison with  the  published  norms. 


Numb 

er  attempted      Number  correct 

Score 

Tests              Norm 

U-  H.  S. 

Norm 

U.  H.  S. 

Norm 

U.  E.  S. 

Courtis: 

Addition           12.0 

9.0 

8.0 

6.0 

Subtraction      12.5 

9.0 

10.0 

7.0 

Multiplication  11.5 

8.0 

8.0 

6.0 

Division             10.5 

7.0 

9.0 

6.0 

Kansas  Silent  Reading 

Test 

19.2 

25.2 

Gregory  Language  Test 

30.7* 

36.3 

Ayres  Spelling 

84 

93 

Ayres  Writing 

54 

*Gregory,  loc.  cit.,  p.  50    (Tentative  norms  based  on  tests  of  1029  eighth  grade  Oregon 
school  children  from  50  schools). 


TABLE  25 

Showing  the  median  scores  in  standard  tests  for  the  ninth  grade  in  com- 
parison with  the  norms. 


Test  Norm  Test 

Ayres  Spelling  ....  100 

Ayres  Writing  ....  64 

Douglass  Algebra      29.6*  30 


♦Douglass,  H.  R.  :  A  Series  of  Standardized  Diagnostic  Tests  for  the  Fundamentals  of 
First  Year  Algebra.  An  unpublished  thesis  submitted  to  the  Graduate  School  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  Missouri,   1920. 


TABLE  26 

Showing  the  medians  and  ranges  of  scores  made  in  the  Kansas  Silent  Read- 
ing Tests  for  groups  of  accelerated,  at  age,  and  retarded  pupils. 

Grade  VII  Grade  VIII 

Median  Eange  Median  Bange 

Accelerated         20.5  17.8-27.7  29.4  15.4-40.4 

At  age  21.1  10.5-38.9  32.0  14.9-54.8 

Retarded  20.3  17.0-32.9  19.1  5.6-39.8 

TABLE  27 

Showing  the  medians  and  ranges  of  scores  in  the  Kansas  Silent  Reading 
Tests  for  groups  of  Superior,  Average,  and  Inferior  pupils. 

Grade  VII  Grade  VIII 

Median  Bange  Median  Bange 

Superior  32.0  18.0-39.0  35.0  17.0-45.0 

Normal  20.0  11.0-33.0  22.0  11.0-40.0 

Inferior  17.0  13.0-25.0  *   24.0  10.0-29.0 


[22] 


University  of  Oregon  High  School 


TABLE  28 

Showing  the  medians  and  ranges  of  scores  (number  worked  correctly)  for 
the  Courtis  Research  Tests  in  Arithmetic  by  groups  of  accelerated,  at  age,  and 
retarded  pupils.  The  scores  are  the  sums  of  the  separate  scores  in  the  four 
fundamental  operations : 

Grade  VII  Grade  VIII 

Median  Bange  Median  Range 

Accelerated         17.0  4.0-31.0  25.5  17.0-46.0 

At  age  21.0  10.0-34.0  29.0  11.0-57.0 

Retarded  12.0  5.0-23.0  20.5  11.0-50.0 


TABLE  29 

Showing  the  medians  and  the  ranges  of  scores  (number  problems  worked 
correctly)  for  the  Courtis  Research  Tests  in  Arithmetic  by  groups  of  Superior, 
Normal,  and  Inferior  pupils.  The  scores  are  the  sums  of  the  separate  scores  in 
the  four  fundamental  operations. 

Grade  VII  Grade  VIII 

Median  Bange  Median  Bange 

Superior               20.0               4.0-34.0  29.5  11.0-46.0 

Normal                 20.0  12.0-27.0  23.0  10.0-57.0 

Inferior                12.0               5.0-26.0  20.0  11.0-22.0 

TABLE  30 

Showing  the  medians  and  ranges  of  scores  made  in  the  Gregory  Language 
Tests  by  groups  of  pupils  classified  as  accelerated,  at  age,  and  retarded. 

Grade  VII  Grade  VIII 

Median           Bange  Median  Bange 

Accelerated         34.3             23.2-52.6  44.2  18.8-61.4 

At   age                 20.0               5.1-61.8  32.0  14.9-54.9 

Retarded             22.1               7.2-46.7  28.2  10.3-46.0 

TABLE  31  ^ 

Showing  the  medians  and  ranges  of  scores  made  in  the  Gregory  Language 
Tests  by  groups  of  pupils  classified  as  Superior,  Normal,  and  Inferior. 


Grade  VII 
Median           Bange 

Grade 

Median 

VIII 

Bange 

Superior 

Normal 

Inferior 

34.3 
32.8 
23.8 

19.4-61.8 
5.1-46.7 

12.7-28.8 

43.4 
31.9 

18.5 

14.9-61.4 

10.3-54.8 

7.2-23.6 

TABLE  32 
Showhig  the  results  in  the  Stone  Reasoning  Tests  in  grades  seven  and  eight. 

Total      Score 


score 

per 

Number 

Number 

for 

J  00 

Median 

problems 

problems 

Per  cent 

Grade 

No. 

class 

pupils 

score 

attempted 

right 

accuracy 

VII-A 

36 

300.9 

836 

9.1 

364 

212 

58.2 

VIII-B 

21 

177.1 

843 

9.2 

194 

128 

66.0 

VIILA 

17 

183.4 

1,079 

10.8 

169 

126 

74.5 

23 


study  of  Pupil  Development 

SECTION  V. 

ANTHROPOMETRIC  MEASUREMENTS 

Justification  for  the  inclusion  of  the  results  of  physical  measure- 
ments may  seem  necessary  in  view  of  the  fact  that  such  data  has 
not  generally  proved  to  be  of  the  highest  value.  However,  the 
close  relationship  between  the  phj^sical  and  mental  development  of 
the  human  body  cannot  well  be  doubted  regardless  of  whether  such 
parallel  maturation  is  correlated  by  direct  causal  factors  or 
whether  it  represents  merely  concomitant  relationship.  For  this 
reason,  it  can  be  shown  that  knowledge  of  certain  physical  factors 
does  contribute  data  which  will  prove  to  be  of  considerable  value 
indirectly  in  the  understanding  of  individual  cases  among  school 
children.  Physical  immaturity,  for  example,  is  a  frequent  factor  in 
low  scholarship  as  can  be  shown  from  the  experience  of  an}^  observ- 
ing teacher. 

The  measurements  selected  for  use  in  this  study  include : 

1.  Height  standing. 

2.  Weight. 

3.  Lung  Capacity  ("Vital  Capacity"). 

4.  Strength  of  Grip. 

The  weights  were  all  taken  without  clothing  and  were  recorded 
in  pounds  and  fractions.  Height  was  likewise  read  to  the  nearest 
tentli  of  an  inch.  Both  standing  and  sitting  height  were  obtained 
although  only  the  results  in  the  first  are  used  here.  Lung  capacity 
was  measured  by  means  of  the  wet  spirometer  and  the  strength  of 
grip  by  means  of  the  Smedley  combined  djaiamometer  and  dynamo- 
graph.  In  using  both  of  the  last  two  instruments  three,  or  in  a  few 
cases  more,  trials  were  allowed  and  the  one  best  record  preserved. 
Likewise  in  the  lung  and  strength  measurements  the  work  was 
done  with  small  groups  in  mild  competition  in  order  to  insure  a 
higli  amount  of  interest  and  effort.  The  dynamometer  was  held  in 
all  of  tlie  tests  at  the  side  of  the  leg  of  the  subject  without  touching 
the  subject.  Only  the  reading  for  the  right  hand  will  be  considered 
here. 

The  matter  of  the  choice  of  the  norms  to  be  used  as  a  basis  for 
the  comparisons  presented  considerable  difficulty  due  to  the  fact 
that  the  exact  conditions  under  which  the  various  investigators  have 
worked  have  not  been  standardized.  In  the  matter  of  weight,  for 
example,  most  of  the  studies  have  been  made  with  clothing  and 

[24] 


TJmversity  of  Oregon  High  School 

corrections  for  this  factor  are  at  best  but  approximate.  It  was 
finally  decided  here  that  for  weight  and  height  the  results  of 
Baldwin*  were  best  suited  to  our  purposes,  first  because  of  the  fact 
that  his  weight  norms  are  taken  without  clothing,  and  secondly, 
because  his  study  was  primarily  made  in  university  high  schools  or 
other  demonstrational  schools  which  are  more  likely  to  resemble  the 
University  of  Oregon  High  School  than  are  the  results  from  studies 
of  city  school  children  generally.  For  vital  capacity  and  strength 
of  grip  the  norms  of  Smedleyt  will  be  used. 

Tables  33  to  34  show  the  heights  and  weights  of  the  University 
High  School  children  in  comparison  with  the  Baldwin  data.  In 
general  it  will  be  seen  that  the  Oregon  pupils  resemble  those  of  the 
University  of  Chicago  schools  and  the  Francis  W.  Parker  School 
very  closely.  "Where  our  cases  are  sufficiently  numerous  to  permit 
of  comparisons  the  deviations  in  height  or  weight  for  either  boys  or 
girls  are  not  significant  in  amount  or  in  a  constant  direction.  The 
western  boys  will  average  somewhat  shorter  than  the  eastern  pupils 
and  the  Oregon  girls  slightly  taller.  For  weight  the  Oregon  boys 
show  small  but  definite  superiority,  but  in  the  case  of  the  girls,  this 
is  not  true  to  any  extent.  It  should  be  pointed  out  that  Baldwin's 
pupils  are  physically  a  superior  lot  in  comparison  with  school  chil- 
dren in  general.    He  states :  " the  children  have  been  under 

school  medical  inspection,  directed  play,  and  physical  education. 
That  these  factors  are  important  educational  agencies  is  shown  by 
the  fact  that,  on  the  average,  these  children  from  the  Horace  Mann 
School,  the  University  of  Chicago  Elementary  and  High  School,  and 
the  Francis  W.  Parker  School  are  taller  and  heavier  than  any  other 
group  of  children  so  far  recorded  among  over  a  million  studied.  "J 

The  differences  between  the  results  obtained  for  vital  capacity 
of  the  Oregon  pupils  and  the  norms  of  Smedley  afford  the  most 
striking  single  fact  in  the  data  on  physical  measurements.  Both 
boys  and  girls  (Table  37)  show  markedly  greater  development  of 
lung  capacity  at  all  ages.  If  the  vital  index  as  often  computed  by 
the  formula 

lung  capacity 

V.  I.= 

•weight 

is  obtained  for  each  pupil,  it  will  be  found  that  the  medians  for 


♦Baldwin,  B.  T.  :  Physical  Growth  and  School  Progress.  Bulletin  of  the  U.  S.  Bureau 
of  Education,  1914,   No.   10,  1-215. 

tSMEDLEY,  F. :  Report  of  Department  of  Child  Study  and  Pedagogic  Investigations, 
46th  Annual  Report  of  the  Board  of  Education,  Chicago,  1899-1900. 

tloc.  cit.,  p.  9. 

[25  1 


study  of  Pupil  Development 

such  indices  at  all  ages  are  higher  than  norms  obtained  by  dividing 
the  birthday  norms  of  weight  and  lung  capacity  furnished  by 
Smedley  (see  Table  38).  It  should  be  remembered  that  Smedley's 
data  for  weight  includes  clothing  and  hence  these  computed  indices 
will  run  slightly  too  low.  This,  of  course,  will  far  from  explain  the 
marked  differences  evidenced  by  the  Oregon  children. 

In  treating  data  for  such  small  numbers  of  cases  as  are  con- 
cerned in  this  study,  it  is  very  difficult  to  make  reliable  comparisons 
with  the  published  norms  because  of  the  influence  of  extreme  vari- 
ates  upon  the  measures  of  central  tendency.  For  example,  if  our 
125  pupils  are  classified  according  to  ages,  there  will  be  in  no  case 
more  than  17  pupils  at  any  age  and  but  one  at  certain  ages. 
Moreover  in  certain  cases,  e.  g.,  for  the  vital  index,  which  is  a  fluc- 
tuating value  for  the  different  ages  because  of  the  imperfect  paral- 
lelism in  the  increases  of  lung  capacity  and  weight  with  age,  it  is 
difficult  to  compare  such  indices  with  any  of  the  measures  of  intelli- 
gence like  the  mental  age  and  the  intelligence  quotients.  Mental 
age  is  a  score  in  contrast  with  the  I.  Q.  which  is  an  index,  but  on  the 
other  hand,  the  I.  Q.  is  believed  to  approximate  a  constant  value  for 
an  individual  year  after  year.  To  correlate  a  somewhat  constant 
index  like  the  I.  Q.  with  a  fluctuating  index  like  the  vital  index  is 
unreliable  if  the  pupils  are  of  different  ages.  In  order  to  make 
possible  these  comparisons  of  groups  of  pupils  of  differing  ages,  it  is 
suggested  that  the  vital  index  be  compared  with  a  theoretical  vital 
index  to  be  obtained  by  dividing  the  lung  capacity  norm  by  the 
weight  norm  at  each  age.  The  result  will  be  a  value  ranging  above 
or  below  1.00  in  much  the  same  way  as  does  the  I.  Q.  Such  an 
index  might  be  termed  an  "index  of  normality"  and  could  be  ap- 
plied in  all  cases  where  values  which  are  statistically  indices,  in  con- 
trast with  scores,  are  concerned.  Likewise  the  index  obtained  for 
strength  of  grip  by  a  similar  process : 

Grip   (actual) 

"Index  of  normality"  for  strength  of  grip  = 

Grip   (norm.) 

Tables  37  to  38  show  the  results  of  such  correlation  of  these  indices 
with  the  intelligence  quotients.  It  is  to  be  noted  that  the  relation- 
ship between  the  vital  index  and  intelligence  which  Smedley,  De- 
Busk*,  and  others  have  postulated  finds  some  confirmation  in  the 
correlations  stated  in  Table  41.     The  chief  limitations  apparent  in 


*DeBusk,  B.  W.  :     The  Vital  Index  in  Development,  Fed.  Sem.,  24,  1917,  pp.  1-18. 

[26] 


University  of  Oregon  High  School 

the  use  of  this  method  would  seem  to  center  about  the  fact  that 
there  must  be  available  reliable  norms  for  any  trait  under  consid- 
eration. In  such  measurements  as  physical  development,  there  ap- 
pear to  be  regional  differences  which  act  as  disturbing  factors  in  the 
computations.  However,  the  advantage  of  increased  numbers  with 
a  corresponding  increase  in  reliability  of  the  statistical  measures 
found  should  be  considered  as  an  argument  in  favor  of  this  manner 
of  treatment.  At  any  rate  it  might  prove  valuable  to  try  out  this 
plan  of  correlation  with  other  and  larger  groups  of  pupils  and  for 
other  physical  and  mental  traits  where  norms  are  to  be  had.  The 
sexes  need  not  be  separated. 

Table  40  shows  that  strength  of  grip  for  the  right  hand  shows  a 
correlation  of  0.35  for  boys  and  — .08  for  girls  by  the  Pearson  for- 
mula. In  the  same  way  the  coefficients  for  the  correlation  of  the 
I.  Q.  and  the  "index  of  normality"  for  the  vital  index  are  0.244 
for  girls  and  0.240  for  boys.  The  coefficients  support  the  conten- 
tion of  DeBusk  and  others  that  there  exists  a  positive  relationship 
between  the  vital  index  and  mental  ability.  This  relationship  is  not 
very  perfect  and  is  very  probably  of  indirect  nature.  It  does  suggest 
the  interesting  possibility  of  physiological  effects  upon  the  mental 
processes  by  the  efficiency  of  oxygenation  through  the  medium  of 
the  blood  stream.  The  ratio  of  oxygen  intake  to  the  weight  of  the 
tissues  of  the  body  could  conceivably  be  a  factor  of  influence  upon 
the  metabolism  of  the  organism.  The  most  important  difficult}^  in 
establishing  such  a  relation  seems  to  lie  in  the  fact  that  the  spirome- 
ter readings  are  not  exact  measures  of  lung  efficiencj''  since  different 
types  of  breathers  and  different  amounts  of  effort  in  using  the 
instrument  cause  different  relations  between  the  tidal,  comple- 
mental,  and  supplemental  air  volumes  to  arise.  There  seems  to  be 
no  method  of  regulating  and  standardizing  these  relations.  In  the- 
ory, these  three  volumes  are  summated  to  form  the  vital  capacity. 

Tables  35,  36,  and  39  show  the  comparative  development  of  the 
pupils  of  the  University  High  School  and  about  850-900  pupils  of 
the  city  schools  of  Eugene  in  height,  weight,  and  vital  indices.  The 
figures  for  the  Eugene  schools  were  kindly  furnished  by  Superin- 
tendent W.  K.  Rutherford  and  are  published  with  his  permission. 
The  advantages,  in  the  main,  are  to  be  credited  to  the  University 
school,  but  it  should  be  remembered  that  the  data  for  the  city 
schools  does  not  extend  above  the  eighth  grade.  This  would  tend  to 
cause  the  comparisons  for  the  upper  j'ears  to  be  made  between 
pupils  normal  to  the  high  school  grades  in  the  one  case  and  in  the 

[27] 


Study  of  Pupil  Development 

other  for  over-age  pupils  of  high  school  age  who  are  still  in  the 
elementary  schools. 

These  comparisons  are  interesting  again  in  that  the  larger  num- 
bers of  the  city  schools  dispose  of  the  possibility  that  the  better 
physical  development  of  the  University  High  School  pupils  in  com- 
parison with  Baldwin's  and  Smedley's  norms  in  a  chance  effect  of 
the  small  number  of  cases. 

One  possibility  which  should  be  called  to  attention  in  correla- 
tions between  mental  and  physical  traits  is  that  such  might  be  due 
merely  to  the  varying  degrees  of  effort  expended  by  different  types 
of  individuals ;  the  more  intelligent,  perhaps,  making  greater  efforts 
in  the  course  of  taking  such  measurements  as  grip  and  luug  capa- 
city and  hence  introducing  a  type  of  spurious  correlation. 

TABLE  33 
Comparing  the  median  heights  of  the  pupils  of  the  University  High  School 
with  the  medians  for  the  pupils  of  the  University  of  Chicago  High  School  and 
the  Francis  W.  Parker  School  (Baldwin). 

Height  in  inches  {medians) 


Boys — 

Age 

Oregon 

Chicago 

Difference 

N 

111/2 

52.7 

55.9 

—3.2 

2 

12  V. 

57.9 

57.9 

0.0 

14 

13  V. 

59.0 

59.8 

—0.8 

17 

i4yo 

61.6 

62.6 

—1.0 

12 

151/2 

63.3 

64.7 

—1.4 

6 

i6y. 

69.5 

65.5 

-f4.0 

1 

17  V. 

64.5 

66.5 

—2.0 

3 

Girl's— 

IIV2 

58.5 

56.6 

H-1.9 

3 

121/, 

60.0 

58.1 

+  1.9 

14 

13V 

61.1 

60.9 

+0.2 

17 

14V> 

62.2 

62.0 

+0.2 

12 

15Vo 

61.9 

62.6 

—0.7 

8 

I6V2 

61.8 

63.0 

—  1.2 

4 

i7y2 

62.3 

63.4 

—1.1 

1 

TABLE  34 

Comparing  the  median  weights  of  the  pupils  of  the  University  of  Oregon 
High  School  with  the  medians  for  the  University  of  Chicago  High  School  and 
the  Francis  W.  Parker  School  (Baldwin). 

Weight  in  pounds  (medians) 
Age  Oregon    ,  Chicago     Difference         N 


Boys — 

llVa 

68.5 

72.7 

—4.2 

2 

12V. 

87.5 

'  77.8 

+9.7 

14 

13  Vo 

89.0 

87.0 

+2.0 

17 

141/. 

100.0 

102.5 

—2.5 

12 

15Vo 

109.5 

108.5 

+1.0 

6 

36  V  144.0  114.5  +29.5 

17  V2  129.5  128.5  +1.0 

[28] 


University  of  Oregon  High  School 


Girls— 

11% 

95.7 

72.5 

+23.2 

3 

121/0 

80.5 

83.0 

—2.5 

9 

131/^ 

99.5 

95.0 

+4.5 

17 

141/. 

103.0 

103.5 

—0.5 

12 

15  V, 

109.4 

111.2 

—1.8 

8 

161/2 

123.0 

112.5 

+  10.5 

5 

171/0 

120.0 

116.5 

+3.5 

1 

TABLE  35 
Comparing  the  heights  of  the  pupils  of  the  University  High  School  with 
those  of  the  public  schools  of  Eugene  according  to  the  measurements  furnished 
by  Superintendent  W.  E.  Kutherford  of  the  city  schools.    Measurements  for  the 
city  schools  are  averages,  for  U.  H.  S.,  medians. 

Boys  Girls 

Age  U.  H.  S.  City  Schools  U. 
54.44 
56.16 
59.31 
61.13 
63.73 
67.40 


111/0 

52.7 

121/, 

57.9 

13  y. 

59.0 

14% 

61.6 

ISVa 

63.3 

levs 

69.5 

17% 

64.5 

.  E.  S. 

City  Schools 

58.5 

56.07 

60.0 

56.99 

61.1 

60.35 

62.2 

62.23 

61.9 

62.84 

61.8 

62.63 

62.3 

TABLE  36 
Comparing  the  weights  of  the  two  groups  of  pupils  in  the  same  way  as  in 
the  preceding  table  of  heights. 


Boys 

Girls 

Age 

U.  H.  S.     C 

ty  Schools 

U.  H.  S. 

City  Schools 

111/2 

68.5 

73.98 

95.7 

74.31 

12i/> 

87.5 

79.94 

80.5 

81.32 

13% 

89.0 

87.16 

99.5 

97.43 

14  V, 

100.0 

97.29 

103.0 

104.00 

15% 

109.5 

114.08 

109.4 

109.77 

16% 

144.0 

128.07 

123.0 

115.61 

17% 

129.5 

120.0 

TABLE  37 

Comparing  the  medians   for  vital  capacity 
High  School  with  those  of  Smedley. 

Vital  Capacity    Smedley 's 


for  the   University   of  Oregon 


I 


Age     in 

cubic  inches 

Data 

Difference 

N 

Boys — 

11% 

120.5 

110.2 

+  10.3 

2 

12% 

151.0 

119.6 

+31.4 

13 

13% 

164.0 

137.7 

+26.3 

16 

14% 

170.5 

154.5 

+  16.0 

12 

15% 

241.0 

174.5 

+  76.5 

5 

16% 

237.0 

206.2 

+30.8 

2 

17% 

209.0 

218.8 

—  9.8 

1 

Girl's— 

11% 

138.0 

97.1 

+40.9 

3 

121/, 

150.0 

105.9 

+44.1 

9 

13% 

164.0 

116.9 

+47.1 

17 

14% 

152.0 

128.8 

+  23.2 

12 

15% 

160.0 

135.7 

+24.3 

8 

16% 

197.0 

140.6 

+  56.4 

5 

17% 

196.0 

142.9 

+  53.1 

1 

[29 


study  of  Pupil  Development 


TABLE  38 
Comparing  the  vital  indices  of  the  University  High  School  pupils  with  those 
computed   from  the  birthday  norms  of   Smedley.     Parentheses   show  numbers 
measured. 


Boys 

Girls 

Age 

Oregon 

Smedley 

Oregon 

Smedley 

111/2 

1.75   (   2) 

1.53 

1.44'  (   3) 

1.36 

12y2 

1.90   (13) 

1.52 

1.87   (  9) 

1.32 

131/:. 

1.90   (16) 

1.54 

1.65   (17) 

1.28 

141/. 

1.73    (12) 

1.56 

1.48   (12) 

1.24 

151/2 

2.01   (  5) 

1.55 

1.46   (   8) 

1.25 

161/2 

1.76   (   2) 

1.69 

1.60   (   4) 

1.23 

171/2 

1.54   (   1) 

1.67 

1.63   (   1) 

1.22 

Age 

U.H.S 

111/2 

1.75 

121/2 

1.90 

131/2 

1.90 

141/, 

1.73 

151/2 

2.01 

16% 

1.76 

TABLE  39 
Comparing  the  vital  indices  for  the  pupils  of  the  University  High  School 
with  data  obtained  for  the  city  schools  of  Eugene  by  Superintendent  W.  E. 
Eutherford.  Data  for  Eugene  schools  computed  as  averages,  for  the  U.  H.  S., 
medians.  For  numbers  of  cases  see  preceding  table.  Numbers  for  city  schools 
about  800. 

City  Sclxools     U.H.S.  City  Schools 

1.554  1.44  1.386 

1.553  1.87  1.382 

1.542  1.65  1.339 

1.590  1.48  1.377 

1.517  1.46  1.366 

1.676  1.60  1.367 

TABLE  40 
Showing  the  Pearson  coeflEicient  of  correlation  between  the  I.  Q.'s  and  the 

"indices   of  normality"   for   strength   of   grip  in   the   right   hand    (upon   the 
basis  of  Smedley 's  data). 

r                   P.E.  N 

Boys          +0.350             .078  57 

Girls          —0.080             .087  60 

TABLE  41 
Showing  the  Pearson  coefficient  of  correlation  between  the  I.  Q.  's  and  the 

indices   of   "normality"    for   the   vital   indices  computed    from   the    data    of 
Smedley. 

r                  P.E.  N 

Boys             -1-0.240           .089  51 

Girls            -i-0.244           .089  51 

TABLE  42 
Showing  the  medians  for  strength  of  grip  in  the  right  hand  for  boys  and 
girls  compared  with  the  norms  of  Smedley.  Measurements  in  kilograms. 


Boys 

Girls 

Age 

Oregon       Smedley 

Oregon 

Smedley 

111/2 

24.25           20.03 

19.00 

17.65 

121/2 

27.50  '         22.45 

23.00 

20.19 

131/2 

30.00           26.43 

25.00 

23.49 

141/2 

33.00           30.40 

25.50 

26.10 

15i/> 

38.00           36.38 

26.00 

27.91 

16 1/2 

44.50           42.35 

28.25 

29.50 

171/0 

47.50           47.14 

36.00 

29.63 

30 


University  of  Oregon  High  School 

SECTION  VI. 

CORRELATIONS,  DISCUSSION  AND  CONCLUSIONS 

In  this  concluding  section  the  effort  will  be  made  to  correlate 
the  data  presented  before  and  make  certain  applications  of  our 
findings  to  school  problems  and  at  the  same  time  suggest  other 
problems  which  may  be  attacked  by  these  methods.  It  is  not  be- 
lieved that  the  problems  to  be  discussed  here  can  be  answered  in  any 
degree  of  finality,  but  it  is  thought  that  solutions  may  be  suggested. 

At  the  outset  it  may  be  of  value  to  raise  the  entire  question  of 
intelligence  testing  and  other  forms  of  educational  measurements 
as  well.  In  spite  of  the  wide-spread  use  of  such  objective  methods 
as  those  of  the  tests  of  native  ability,  it  may  fairly  be  said  that 
among  the  rank  and  file  of  public  school  men  and  women  there  are 
still  those  who  raise  certain  questions.  They  often  hold  to  the  view 
that  careful  and  experienced  teachers  are  just  as  accurate  in  their 
estimates  of  intelligence  as  tests  can  be  made  to  be,  or  again,  they 
ask :  Even  after  one  has  found  the  mental  age,  the  I.  Q.,  or  the 
score  in  Army  Alpha,  of  what  value  is  this  knowledge?  Are  not 
such  measures  prohibitive  in  their  demands  upon  time  and  energy  ? 

The  last  will  be  taken  up  first  since  it  can  be  answered  quite 
briefly.  To  take  a  concrete  illustration,  a  pupil  spends  in  a  given 
grade  in  the  course  of  a  full  year's  work  of  nine  months  something 
more  than  a  thousand  hours  under  the  direct  observation  of  the 
teacher,  granting  a  six-hour  day.  It  requires  approximately  one 
hour  of  these  one  thousand  to  give  an  individual  Binet  examination 
— or  one-tenth  of  one  per  cent  of  the  school  year.  If  there  are 
thirty  pupils  in  a  room  and  a  group  scale  requiring  an  hour's  time 
to  give  is  used,  the  time  expenditure  is  about  two  minutes  per  pupil 
plus  about  five  minutes  per  pupil  to  score  the  results.  If  the  results 
of  such  tests  of  intelligence  have  even  the  smallest  practical  value, 
the  time  expenditure  is  almost  negligible.  Every  year  we  devotQ 
dozens  of  times  this  amount  of  time  to  one  or  another  wortliy  cause 
which  may  be  very  much  less  closely  related  to  school  affairs.  Pass- 
ing from  this  question  to  that  of  the  possibility  of  intelligence  tests 
being  entirely  superfluous  since  capable  teachers  of  long  experience 
can  estimate  ability  with  a  reliability  which  approaches  that  of  the 
tests,  it  should  be  recalled  that  it  is  true  that  the  teachers  of  the 
University  High  School  were  able  to  estimate  intelligence  with  a 
reliability  of  from  .60  to  .70  or  more  as  shown  by  the  coefficients  of 

[31] 


iitudy  of  Pupil  Development 


correlation.  In  view  of  the  extremely  favorable  circmnstanees 
under  which  these  ratings  were  made,  it  is  doubtful  whether  much 
greater  accuracy  can  be  ordinarily  obtained.  If,  then,  we  examine 
a  few  of  the  cases  of  displacement  we  will  find  ourselves  forced  to 
the  conclusion  that,  although  the  reliability  of  the  method  of  esti- 
mation is  high  in  the  mass,  in  individual  cases  it  will  lead  to  serious 
error.  Stated  in  other  words  the  method  breaks  down  in  just  those 
individual  cases  where  it  could  prove  of  the  greatest  value.  To  cite 
some  illustrative  cases,  the  following  will  serve  the  purpose  : 

Case  1.— V.  L.,  girl.  C.  A.,  11-8.  M.  A.,  15-5.  I.  Q.,  132.  Army  Alpha,  83. 
Chicago,  4914.  Average  grade,  79.  Teachers'  estimate,  4.25  (pooled  estimates 
of  four  teachers;  range  of  estimates  2.0-6.0.  See  preceding  section  for  basis  of 
assigning  ranks). 

This  is  a  case  of  a  quiet,  retiring  pupil,  physically  immature,  somewhat 
irregular  in  attendance,  and  handicapped  by  ill  health  to  some  extent.  Previous 
school  advantages  probably  not  of  the  best.  The  teachers  have  evidently  judged 
her  ability  by  her  grades  overlooking  the  above  factors  and  the  additional  one 
that  she  is  almost  two  years  ahead  of  her  grade  and  is  thus  subjected  to  ex- 
treme competition.  Her  real  ability  demands  that  she  be  rated  1.0  or  a  fraction 
more  in  the  scale  used  for  estimation. 

Case  2.— E.  F.,  boy.  C.  A.,  12-7.  M.  A.,  16-7.  I.  Q.,  132.  Alpha,  133. 
Chicago,  47%.  Average  grade  73  (failure).  Teachers'  estimate  3.0  (pooled 
results  for  four  teachers;  range  1.0  to  6.0). 

Pupil  vivacious,  troublesome  in  minor  ways,  noisy,  lazy,  inattentive,  self- 
satisfied,  and  more  or  less  indiflFerent  to  praise  or  criticism.  Could  do  the  high- 
est type  of  school  work  if  he  so  desired.  Father  an  able  professional  man. 
Another  case  of  teachers  basing  judgments  upon  school  work.  Pupil  acceler- 
ated two  years  but  bids  fair  to  lose  this  position  unless  some  method  of  inter- 
esting him  in  school  work  is  found.     Should  be  rated  1.0. 

Case  3.— C.  W.,  girl.  C,  A.,  13-10.  M.  A.,  12-9.  I.  Q.,  92.  Alpha,  69. 
Chicago,  27%.  Teachers'  estimate  3.25  (pooled  results  for  four  teachers;  range 
2.0-6.0).     Average  grade  87. 

Pupil  active,  vivacious,  energetic,  works  carefully  and  consistently,  takes 
prominent  part  in  school  activities,  a  natural  leader  among  her  class-mates,  and 
would  be  popularly  described  as  '  *  looking  intelligent. ' '  Her  pleasant  maimers 
and  excellent  work  habits  cause  her  to  be  rated  3.25  when  her  real  ability  is  5.0 
or  6.0  on  our  scale.     She  is  just  at  grade  for  her  age. 

Case  4.— M.  G.,  boy.  C.  A.,  15-9.  M.  A.,  18-1.  I.  Q.,  115,  Alpha,  130. 
Chicago,  64.  Average  grade  73  (failure).  Teachers'  estimate  6.0  (pooled 
results  of  five  teachers;  range  4-9). 

One  of  the  notoriously  lazy  boys  of  the  school.  Constant  minor  offender 
against  school  rules.  Not  responsive  to  social  pressure.  Prefers  to  read  wild 
west  stories  to  school  books.  Could  easily  do  90  per  cent  school  work.  Rated 
too  low  because  of  work  habits.  Should  be  rated  2.0-3.0.  Is  retarded  about  one 
year.     Has  failed  before. 

If  space  permitted  man}'  other  cases  could  be  cited,  e.  g.,  the 
girl  standing  fourth  in  the  entire  school  upon  the  basis  of  the  I.  Q. 
and  beyond  doubt  to  be  rated  at  1.0  on  our  scale  was  assigned  the 
rank  6.0  by  her  teachers,  the  estimates  ranging  from  4.0-8.0.    It  will 


[32] 


University  of  Oregon  High  School 

be  argued  that  these  are  the  exceptions  and  not  the  rule.  This  is 
just  the  point  in  the  position  taken  here.  It  is  in  the  exceptional 
case  that  the  intelligence  examination  proves  its  worth.  We  have 
shown  by  table  10  of  Section  II  that  18.9  per  cent  of  the  pupils  are 
displaced  more  than  two  groups — an  amount  which  as  was  shown  is 
a  serious  displacement — and  that  but  one  pupil  in  six  can  be  located 
in  the  correct  group  as  determined  by  the  tests.  Sixty-one  and  one- 
tenth  per  cent  are  located  with  a  displacement  of  no  more  than  one 
group — an  amount  which  is  not  serious.  This  leaves  one  pupil  in 
five  who  cannot  be  rated  by  the  method  of  estimation  because  of 
complicating  factors  and  it  is  just  this  pupil  that  most  needs  to  be 
given  an  evaluation  in  terms  of  native  abilit5^  For  these  reasons  it 
does  not  seem  likely  that  the  method  of  estimates  promises  any 
serious  rivalry  to  the  method  of  tests.  Two  other  points  suggest 
themselves  as  being  worthy  of  brief  mention.  The  first  is  that  the 
method  of  estimates  is  almost  as  expensive  in  time  and  efforts  as  are 
individual  tests  and  much  more  so  than  group  examinations,  as  was 
shown  by  the  fact  that  in  order  to  obtain  the  high  reliability  of  our 
estimates,  some  teachers  devoted  as  much  as  five  hours  to  the  task. 
The  second  point  is  that  both  methods  are  of  practical  as  well  as 
instructive  value  since  they  are  mutually  corroborative.  The  fact 
that  comparisons  of  the  ratings  obtained  by  the  two  methods  show 
discrepancies  leads  to  deeper  analysis  of  pupil's  abilities  by  teachers 
and  a  truer  understanding  of  the  complex  relationships  between  the 
many  factors  combining  to  determine  school  attainment. 

The  remaining  point  as  to  what  are  the  schoolroom  applications 
of  the  mental  age,  I.  Q.,  or  other  intelligence  ratings  will  not  be 
further  discussed  here  but  taken  up  incidentally  along  with  the 
other  problems  in  the  pages  to  follow. 

The  next  application  of  the  method  of  objective  measurements 
in  school  practice  is  that  of  the  possibility  of  using  standard  educa- 
tional tests  and  intelligence  scores  as  a  basis  for  promotions,  grad- 
ing, and  school  advancement.  This  is  a  new  field  where  generaliza- 
tions are  dangerous  but  offering  such  possibilities  that  a  few  ideas 
merit  some  consideration.  In  Section  IV  it  was  shown  that  the 
pupil  who  is  considered  as  accelerated  by  the  usual  standards  would 
in  most  eases  be  classified  as  retarded  in  an  age-grade  table  based 
upon  the  use  of  mental  ages.  This  fact  has  been  repeatedly  empha- 
sized by  Terman  and  others  and  apparently  passes  unchallenged. 
Could,  then,  a  pupil  do  the  work  in  the  grade  which  is  normal  for 
his  mental  age  in  a  satisfactory  manner  and  prove  able  to  stand  the 

[33] 


6tudy  of  Pupil  Development 


competition  of  pupils  actually  one  or  more  years  older  1  Obviously 
to  transplant  the  twelve-year-old  boy  or  girl  testing  at  a  mental  age 
of  fifteen  (I.  Q.  approximately  125)  into  the  first  year  of  the  high 
school  without  completing  the  work  of  grades  seven  and  eight 
would  be  an  entirely  unwarranted  educational  policy  which  might 
entail  no  end  of  objectionable  consequences.  This  hiatus  in  the 
fundamentals  of  subject  matter  would  persist  throughout  the  school 
and  real  life  of  the  pupil  and  worse  still  the  foundations  for  future 
building  would  be  undermined.  Such  practices  are  not  to  be  seri- 
ously considered.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  there  may  be  an  alterna- 
tive. As  every  teacher  knows  we  have  with  us  in  the  classroom  a 
considerable  group  of  pupils  of  superior  ability  who  appear  to  be 
bored  with  the  work  of  the  school  and  grade  and  who  in  the  end  fall 
either  into  attitudes  of  apathy  or  petty  mischief.  It  has  been  a 
rather  frequent  criticism  of  the  schools  of  democracies  that  they 
look  first  to  the  average  or  sub-average  child  often  to  the  neglect  of 
real  ability.  This  may  explain  in  large  part  the  fact  that  so  many 
men  of  genius  have  been  overlooked  by  their  teachers  only  to  burst 
forth  like  meteors  in  their  later  lives.  There  is  little  doubt  that  the 
lock-step  method  of  school  progress  has  tended  to  divert  superior 
ability  and  energy,  particularly  in  boys,  into  wasteful  and  negative 
channels.  These  criticisms  are  not  intended  to  serve  as  arguments 
for  falling  into  the  errors  of  some  of  the  European  school  systems 
of  focusing  the  entire  effort  and  attention  of  the  schools  upon  the 
few  of  superior  endowments  at  the  expense  of  the  many.  One 
extreme  is  as  bad  as  the  other,  except  that  the  latter  does  seem  to 
produce  a  certain  body  of  social,  political,  and  scientific  leaders. 
The  real  issue  is  that  any  system  which  discriminates  between  the 
various  levels  of  ability  is  wasteful  and  unfair.  Just  what  the 
mechanics  of  a  system  permitting  pupils  to  progress  at  rates  deter- 
mined by  their  individual  abilities  will  prove  to  be  is  not  within  the 
scope  of  this  discussion  to  suggest.  Several  efforts  have  been  made 
in  the  past  in  the  form  of  the  Pueblo  plan,  modified  monitorial  sys- 
tems, the  abolition  of  class  instruction  with  a  return  to  individual 
teaching,  the  Batavia  scheme,  and  many  others.  Each  of  these  has 
advantages  and  none  are  free  from  objections.  Divergent  as  they 
are,  they  are  in  agreement  on  the  one  point  that  the  present  lock- 
step  system  is  undesirable  iii  view  of  the  new  knowledge  of  the 
magnitude  of  individual  differences. 

Under  present  conditions  we  find  in.  extreme  cases  where  the 
pupils  are  too  mature  to  derive  full  value  from  a  grade  that  we  are 

[34] 


University  of  Oregon  High  School 

forced  to  promote  these  ahead  a  half  grade  or  a  grade  without  the 
intervening  work.  That  such  promotions  are  make-shifts  would  not 
be  denied.  However,  if  under  the  present  conditions  forced  pro- 
motions are  necessary  at  times  in  indi\ndual  cases  or  for  administra- 
tive reasons,  we  should  supplement  our  judgments  in  these  promo- 
tions with  whatever  other  types  of  data  are  at  hand.  That  the 
results  of  intelligence  and  standard  educational  tests  can  be  made  to 
serve  this  purpose  is  well  illustrated  by  the  following  case  reported 
by  the  writer  in  Educational  Administration  and  Supervision  for 
February,  1920.*  Here  because  of  crowded  conditions  and  unequal 
distributions  of  pupils  it  was  found  necessary  to  promote  about  ten 
pupils  from  the  seventh  B  to  seventh  A  section.  It  was  the  plan  to 
select  about  that  number  from  the  lower  grade  upon  the  basis  of 
ability,  choosing  the  highest  in  the  class.  Teacher's  estimates  and 
judgments  were  unavailable  since  the  pupils  were  all  new  to  the 
school  and  had  come  from  at  least  a  half-dozen  different  schools,  in 
some  cases  outside  the  state.  It  was  finally  decided  to  base  the 
promotions  upon  the  showing  made  in  a  "battery"  of  educational 
tests  consisting  of  the  Courtis,  Kelly  and  Gregory  tests.  If  time 
had  permitted  the  Binet  tests  would  have  been  given.  Unfortu- 
nately these  had  to  be  deferred  until  later ;  the  results  are,  however, 
included  in  the  table  below,  which  is  reproduced  from  the  original 
paper.  The  pupils  standing  highest  in  the  three  tests  were  ad- 
vanced into  the  next  section  except  for  two  rejections,  one  for 
3)hysical  immaturity  and  the  other  on  account  of  parental  objection. 


TABLE  43 

ecords  of 

seven  pupi 

ils 

who  were 

ailvanced  from 

7B  to  7 

A. 

Tnd 

'ividual  Tests 

A veragt 

!  Group 

Tests 

Pupil 

C.A. 

M.A. 

I.Q. 

Grades 

Chicago 

Alpha 

A.  H. 

13-3 

15-9 

119 

85 

54 

98 

J.  K. 

12-9 

14-9 

114 

80 

36 

114 

H.  C. 

14-2 

13-0 

93 

76 

15 

65 

J.  B. 

12-4 

14-0 

114 

82 

451/. 

109 

K.  E. 

12-9 

14-11 

117 

82 

34 

102 

B.  B. 

11-8 

13-3 

113 

85 

38 

97 

E.  T. 

12-2 

15-9 

130 

83 

45 

94 

Averages 

12-8.7 

15-5.6 

114.3 

81.9 

38.2 

97.0 

Medians 

12-9.0 

14-7.0 

114.0 

82.0 

38.0 

98.0 

Eecords  of  pupils  regularly  belonging  in  grade  7A — 

C.  A.             M.  A.              I.  Q.  Grades  Chicago  Alpha 

Averages         13-5.6             14-6.0             108.0  81.4             35.1  87.5 

Medians          13-3.0             14-6.5             107.0  81.5             36.5  79.0 


*RUCH,   G.   M. :     An   Experiment  with   Forced  Promotions,    Educational   Administration 
and  Supervision,  6,  1920,  pp.  71-73. 

[35] 


Study  of  Pupil  Development 


"Examination  of  the  figures  given  above  leads  to  the  eonclu- 
tion  that  the  promotions  could  be  defended  except  in  the  case  of 
H.  C.  who  did  passing  work,  average  grade  of  76  (passing  75) 
although  at  a  high  expenditure  of  effort.  In  no  other  case  did  a 
pupil  fall  below  the  median  grade  of  the  school  (median  for  school 
82 ;  boys,  80,  girls  83 ) .  The  one  pupil  doing  poor  work  would  have 
been  eliminated  on  the  basis  of  the  supplementary  evidence  fur- 
nished by  the  intelligence  tests  had  these  been  possible  at  the  same 
time  that  the  pedagogical  tests  were  made." 

This  illustration,  even  in  spite  of  the  small  number  of  cases 
involved,  tempts  one  to  conclude  that  the  careful  use  of  the 
results  of  a  combination  of  mental,  educational,  and  physical  tests 
would  offer  a  basis  for  forced  or  special  promotions,  where  neces- 
sary, which  is  about  as  reliable  as  educational  practice  can  be  made 
empirically.  In  the  foregoing  example,  much  valuable  supplemen- 
tary data  is  again  overlooked  in  the  direction  of  physical  factors. 
To  take  a  single  case,  that  of  the  pupil  not  advanced  because  of 
physical  factors,  we  have  the  following : 

Score 


Pupil— H.  M.,  B 

oy — 

Attempts 

Bii 

C.  A. 

11-11 

Courtis 

M.  A. 

14-0 

Addition                  8 

8 

I.  Q. 

117 

Subtraction           12 

12 

Alpha 
Chicago 

83 
38 

Multiplication        5 
Division                   6 

5 
6 

Average   Grade 

83 

Weight 

72 

Kelly 

Height 

Vital  Capacity 

Vital  Index 

52.5 
130 
1.80 

Gregory 

Grip— Eight 
Grip— Left 

27 
29 

17.8 


52.6 


Examination  of  this  data  shows  that  the  pupil  rates  quite  satis- 
factorily in  all  of  the  tests  of  general  intelligence,  fairly  high  or 
very  high  in  the  standard  educational  tests,  but  that  there  is  some 
evidence  of  physical  immaturity,  particularly  in  height.  This  is 
not  serious  in  relation  to  the  norms  for  eastern  children,  but  is 
somewhat  subnormal  for  the  pupils  of  this  school.  Taking  into 
account  the  fact  of  the  low  age  of  the  pupil  as  well,  it  was  decided 
not  to  permit  him  to  make  the  advance  in  grade.  Another  case 
which  shows  the  influence  of  physical  factors  is  that  of  a  boy  who  is 
one  year  accelerated  but  who  has  failed  to  maintain  the  high  stand- 
ards of  work  evidenced  by  accelerated  pupils.  His  measurements 
follow : 

[36] 


University  of  Oregon  High  School 


S.  p.— Boy. 

C.  A. 

12-10 

Courtis               Attempts 

Eights 

Score 

M.  A. 

11-8 

Addition                  6 

2 

I.  Q. 

91 

Subtraction             6 

6 

Alpha 

54 

Multiplication        8 

5 

Chicago 

36i/> 

Division                   7 

6 

Average  Grade 

75 

Weight 

63 

Kelly 

22.3 

Height 

56 

Vital  Capacity 

Gregory 

18.8 

Vital  Index 

Ayres  Spelling 

80.0 

Grip — Eight 

22.5 

Ayres  Writing 

40.0 

Grip — Left 

22.0 

Stone  Reasoning       9 

6 

10.5 

This  boy  is  .somewhat  sub-normal  in  intelligence  although  not 
seriously  enough  to  explain  his  poor  school  work.  His  previous 
school  advantages  have  not  been  of  the  best  but  this  also  is  not  a 
serious  defect.  The  real  reason  for  his  poor  school  work  is  to  be 
found  prominently  involving  the  fact  that  his  mentality  will  not 
warrant  his  continuance  in  a  grade  one  year  above  the  normal  for 
his  age  and  further  that  his  physical  development  is  retarded.  The 
boy  is  almost  the  typical  picture  of  the  cases  of  mal-nutrition  as 
described  in  works  on  school  hygiene.  It  is  not  accurate  to  speak  of 
him  as  handicapped  by  ill  health  as  he  is  rarely  sick  and  is  regular 
in  attendance  at  school,  but,  casual  inspection  reveals  that  meta- 
bolism is  carried  on  at  a  very  low  ebb  as  is  evidenced  by  his 
apathetic  manner.  In  all  probability  he  will  soon  lose  his  advantage 
in  school  position  and  through  failure  drop  back  into  his  proper 
grade.  It  seems  to  be  one  of  those  cases  where  a  teacher  can  con- 
scientious]}^ advise  the  parents  to  allow  the  boy  to  be  retained  for 
one  and  a  half  or  two  years  in  grade  eight  before  allowing  him  to 
enter  high  school.  It  is  even  possible  that  parents  would  be  glad  to 
pursue  this  plan  if  presented  as  outlined  here  with  the  facts  before 
them  and  in  a  sympathetic  manner,  with  some  reservations,  of 
course,  in  the  matter  of  revealing  intelligence  scores. 

These  case  descriptions  suggest  at  once  the  problems  of  age- 
grade  distribution  as  a  measure  of  school  progress  as  dependent 
upon  factors  of  native  endowment.  Acceleration  in  most  schools  in 
the  past  has  not  attracted  a  great  deal  of  attention,  due  to  the  fact 
that  our  methods  of  promotion  did  not  favor  tlie  production  of  accel- 
eration to  any  such  degree  as  they  did  produce  conditions  of  retard- 
ation. It  has  been  shown,  as  might  have  been  expected,  that  acceler- 
ation is  closely  related  to  superior  ability.  Our  figures  presented 
before  point  unmistakably  to  this  conclusion.  That  the  reverse 
would  hold  true  of  retardation  has  not  been  nearly  so  well  accepted 

[37] 


study  of  Pupil  Development 


because  of  the  multiplicity  of  factors  involved  in  causing  pupils  to 
fall  behind  grade.  However,  there  is  a  growing  suspicion  that 
many  of  the  conventional  causes  to  which  retardation  has  been 
attributed  are  after  all  the  superficial  causes  which  often  conceal 
the  real  reasons.  For  this  reason  it  was  thought  worth  while  to 
attempt  to  analyze  our  cases  of  retardation  in  the  light  of  the 
experimental  facts  gathered.  One  of  the  striking  facts  is  that  of 
the  relative  ranks  of  the  accelerated,  at  age,  and  retarded  groups  in 
the  various  types  of  tests.  In  general  the  most  perfect  gradations 
are  found  to  be  characteristic  of  the  tests  of  general  intelligence 
(see  table  18),  school  marks  (see  table  20),  and  percentages  of 
failures  (tables  21  and  22)  and  is  least  characteristic  of  the  stand- 
ard educational  tests  and  the  physical  measurements  (tables  26,  28, 
and  30).  In  order  to  make  certain  of  these  comparisons  directly 
portions  of  the  foregoing  tables  are  reproduced  here, 

TABLE  -41 

Showing  in  siimmarized  form  the  results  of  the  tests  of  intelligence  and 
school  marks  for  the  groups  of  accelerated,  at  age,  and  retarded  pupils  of  the 

entire  school.     All  medians. 

Per  cent 

M.  A.         I.  Q.       Alpha    Chicago    Grades  failino 

15-2     117     104     43     83      7.3 

15-0     105      85     35.5   82.5    9.1 

14-1      90      79     31     78     31.4 


Accelerated 

Normal 

Eetarded 


N. 
40 
44 
35 


C.A. 
13-2 
13-7 
15-9 


Test 


TABLE  45 

Grade  Til  Grade  Fill 

Accelerated      At  age     Retarded    Accelerated     At  age    Eetarded 


Kelly 

Courtis  (totals) 
Gregory 
Ayres    Writing 
Ayres  Spelling 


20.5 
17.0 
34.3 
40.0 
60.0 


21.1 
21.0 
20.0 
40.3 

81.7 


20.3 
12.0 
22.1 
55.0 
75.0 


29.4 
25.5 
44.2 
45.0 
96.0 


32.0 
29.0 
32.0 
65.0 
92.5 


19.1 
20.5 
28.2 
55.0 
86.7 


In  examining  the  foregoing  summaries  one  cannot  fail  but  bo 
impressed  with  the  weight  of  native  ability  in  the  determination  of 
school  standing.  One  thing  is  certain,  viz.,  that  mental  deficiency 
is  a  far  more  powerful  factor  in  the  cause  of  retardation  than  has 
been  commonly  supposed  notwithstanding  several  authorities  to  tl'e 
contrary  who  asserted  that  this  is  a  minor  if  not  negligible  influence. 
Concretely  to  the  point  is  the  matter  of  late  entrance.  Why  should 
delayed  entrance  to  the  public  schools  result  in  a  lessened  acquisi- 
tion of  classroom  knowledge,  all  other  things  being  equal,  in  coni- 

[38] 


Vniversity  of  Oregon  High  School 

parison  with  the  pupil  who  begins  his  school  life  on  schedule  time  1 
He  miTst  have  traveled  the  same  road  through  the  school,  studied 
under  the  same  instructors,  followed  the  same  course  of  study,  etc. 
It  must  be  true  that  such  groups  of  late  entrants  within  the  ranks  of 
the  retarded  cannot  account  for  the  generally  poor  showing  of 
the  latter.  In  the  case  of  ill  health,  moving  away,  and  similar 
causes,  our  contentions  are  not  meant  to  apph\  These  are 
admittedly  real  causes  for  pupils  falling  behind  grade.  However, 
as  we  shall  show  below,  there  is  a  strong  tendency  in  the  case 
of  loss  of  time  through  changing  schools,  for  the  factor  of 
intelligence  to  enter  once  more.  The  floating  population  repre- 
sents a  class  very  largely  recruited  from  the  ranks  of  those 
who  are  to  be  described  as  economic  failures  to  a  greater  or 
less  degree.  Here,  even  though  such  frequent  changes  are  real 
handicaps  to  successful  school  work,  the  underlying  cause  reduces 
often  to  the  inability  of  such  homes  to  maintain  a  satisfactory  stand- 
ing in  the  economic  competition  of  the  industrial  world.  The  eco- 
nomic instability  is  but  the  superficial  cause.  In  order  to  check 
upon  the  weight  to  be  assigned  to  the  factor  of  native  ability  in 
individual  cases  of  retardation  as  well  as  in  the  mass  as  shown  by 
the  tables  of  medians  above,  the  full  school  history  of  all  the  cases 
of  retardation  remaining  in  the  school  was  obtained.  Of  the  thirty- 
five  cases  of  retardation  in  the  school  during  the  first  semester  of 
the  school  year  1919-1920,  thirty-one  of  these  pupils  continued 
throughout  the  year.  In  order  to  examine  the  attributed  causes  for 
these  pupils  having  fallen  behind  grade,  the  detailed  school  history 
of  each  case  was  secured  by  the  combined  use  of  information  blanks, 
personal  interviews,  and  conferences  with  parents.  The  school 
progress  of  each  pupil  was  then  charted  out  from  the  time  the  pupil 
entered  the  first  grade  to  the  present  time.  That  a  few  errors  inev- 
itably have  crept  in  matters  very  little  since  only  the  attributed 
causes  are  to  be  considered  and  these  are  purposely  to  be  taken  at 
face  value.  It  is  not  believed  that  the  attributed  causes  are  gener- 
erally  the  true  causes,  on  the  other  hand,  it  was  quite  often  evident 
that  the  contrary  was  true.  The  real  intention  is  to  subject  the  tradi- 
tional attributed  causes  to  a  further  analysis  in  the  effort  to  show- 
that  such  causes  are  but  superficially  operative  and  that  in  many 
cases  deeper-seated  forces  have  operated  to  cause  the  pupil  to  make 
slow  progress  through  the  schools.  Table  46  shows  in  a  summarized 
form  the  inter-relations  between  the  attributed  causes  and  such 
factors  as  the  intelligence  quotients  and  the  number  of  schools  at- 

f  39  1 


study  of  Pupil  Development 

tended.  Notwithstanding  many  exceptions,  the  number  of  schools 
attended  should  in  the  mass  prove  to  be  a  rough  measure  of  the 
economic  instability  and  restlessness  of  the  home  from  which  the 
pupils  have  come.  That  some  relation  between  the  factor  of  intelli- 
gence and  the  floating  home  exists  has  been  pointed  out  by  numer- 
ous investigators. 

TABLE  46 

Giving  the  median  I.  Q.'s,  absolute  numbers,  percentages,  and  numbers  of 

schools  attended  for  the  groups  as  classified  upon  the  basis  of  attributed  causes 

for  the  35  retarded  pupils. 

Aver.  No. 

Per    Median  of  schools 
Attributed  Cause  N.        cent        I.  Q.     attended. 

I.     Single  Causes: 

Absence  due  to  changing  schools  or 

being  put  back  6         19.3         89.0         6.17 

Absence  due  to  ill  health  or  accidents        3  9.7         90.0         3.67 

Service  in  army  1  3.2       101.0         3.00 

Late  entrance  4         12.9       100.5         3.25 

Inability  to  learn  5         16.1         86.0         4.40 

Lack  of  appUcation  7         22.6         90.0         4.00 

II.     Multiple  Causes: 

Absence  due  to  changing  schools  and 

iU  health  combined  1  3.2         90.0         6.00 

HI  health  and  lack  of  application 

combined  2  6.5         99.5         5.00 

Late  entrance  and  poor  health  combined    2  6.5         74.5         4.50 

III.     Left  School  Before  Data  Was  Secured : 

Transferred  to  another  school  1  62.0 

To  go  to  work 
Moved  away 


2  80.0 

1 


35 


Examination  of  the  foregoing  table  shows  the  suggestive  fact 
that  no  matter  what  the  attributed  cause  of  retardation  may  be, 
that  the  median  intelligence  of  no  group  rises  above  mediocrity  and 
in  the  vast  majority  of  the  classes  it  falls  decidedly  below  the  nor- 
mal. The  highest  levels  of  intelligence  accompany  such  factors  8S 
late  entrance,  army  service  delays,  and  ill  health  coupled  with  other 
causes.  It  is  quite  evident  that  none  of  these  groups  would  logicallv 
be  expected,  per  se,  to  be  characterized  by  low  grade  ability  in  the 
same  sense  that  lack  of  application  or  inability  to  learn  would  be. 
This  data,  although  slight  in  amount,  would  tempt  one  to  adopt  a 
conclusion  that  is  diametrically  opposed  to  the  statement  made  by 
some  students  of  retardation  that  defective  mentality  is  a  slight 
factor  in  slow  progress  through  the  schools.  Rather  would  poor 
native  endowment  appear  to  underlie  most  of  the  traditional  causes 

[40] 


University  of  Oregon  High  School 

for  these  conditions.  Terman*  quotes  Dr.  Guliek  as  taking  the  posi- 
tion "that  relatively  few  children  are  so  defective  as  to  prevent 
success  in  school  or  life,"  but  accepts  the  results  of  Dickson  whose 
findings  are  quite  in  accord  with  the  facts  presented  above.  One 
thing  seems  to  be  certain,  at  any  rate,  and  that  is  that  the  whole 
subject  of  the  causes  of  retardation  must  shortly  be  re-opened  in  the 
light  of  the  new  knowledge  in  the  field  of  individual  differences  and 
tests  of  endowment. 

This  relation  between  school  progress  as  rated  in  terms  of  accel- 
eration and  retardation  and  the  factor  of  native  ability  or  general 
intelligence  suggests  the  problem  of  comparing  the  scores  made  in 
the  standard  educational  tests  with  ability  by  the  method  of  correla- 
tion. The  exact  degree  of  relation  between  school  acquisition  and 
real  ability  has  been  a  much  disputed  question  in  the  past,  and  only 
recently  has  much  experimental  evidence  been  available  for  pur- 
poses of  discussion  of  such  points.  In  table  47  presented  below  arc 
given  the  Pearson  coefficients  between  the  I.  Q.  and  the  scores  in 
the  pedagogical  tests,  grade  by  grade.  A  few  statements  concern- 
ing the  method  of  handling  the  data  for  these  correlations  are 
needed.  The  method  of  averaging  the  coefficients  for  the  three 
grades  (in  part  of  the  cases,  two  grades)  was  that  of  a  "weighted" 
average  in  which  the  exact  size  of  N  was  allowed  to  influence  the 
average.  This  is  obviously  a  truer  measure  than  a  direct  average  of 
the  two  or  three  coefficients.  It  may  be  objected  that  even  such 
averages  are  not  very  reliable.  This  is  admitted  but,  on  the  other 
hand,  it  is  thought  that  such  weighted  averages  are  in  most  cases 
lower  than  the  true  correlations.  For  example,  the  correlation  for 
all  pupils  of  all  three  grades  between  the  I.  Q.  and  the  average 
grades  earned  is  0.533  plus  or  minus  .044  but  the  weighted  average 
correlation  is  0.480.  The  use  of  the  weighted  averages  of  the  coeffi- 
cients makes  it  possible  to  avoid  certain  errors  which  would  arise  in 
comparing  scores  in  a  given  test  for  several  different  grades,  viz.,  the 
I.  Q.  varies  about  100  in  each  grade  while  the  test  scores  vary  about 
different  bases  in  each  grade,  usually  a  series  of  increasing  values 
as  we  pass  from  a  grade  to  the  next  higher,  etc.  This  fault,  ol 
course,  does  not  apply  in  the  case  of  the  average  grades  since  the 
grading  system  has  a  constant  base  at  all  grades.  Since  the  I.  Q. 
is  an  index  and  not  a  score,  it  could  only  be  used  for  correlations 
within  a  grade  for  comparison  with  scores  but  might  be  used  for  all 
grades  for  comparisons  with  other  indices    (the  school  marks  are 


•Intelligence  of  School  Children,  p.  119. 

[41 


Study  of  Pupil  Development 

obviously  indices).  The  mental  age,  in  contrast,  is  a  true  score  and 
might  be  used  but  it  is  open  to  the  objection  that  the  same  mental 
age  score  might  stand  for  pupils  representing  all  three  grades  and 
hence  introduce  an  error  by  virtue  of  the  fact  of  unequal  training 
effects  in  the  different  grades.  This  effect  would  most  likely  be 
most  serious  in  subjects  receiving  direct  training  in  the  grades 
under  discussion,  e.  g.,  language,  and  least  serious  in  those  subjects 
where  the  direct  training  has  ceased  several  grades  below  the  one;? 
here  concerned,  e.  g.,  in  the  Courtis  tests.  These  considerations  form 
the  argument  for  the  use  of  the  weighted  averages  of  the  Pearson 
coefficients. 

In  the  Stone  tests  only  the  reasoning  scores  are  concerned.  In 
the  Courtis  tests  the  scores  for  the  four  operations  are  combined. 
This  is  a  purely  arbitrary  procedure,  but  since  a  point  gained  in 
addition  is  not  so  very  unequal  to  one  for  subtraction  or  multiplica- 
tion, the  errors  may  tend  to  balance  one  another  to  a  large  extent. 
At  any  rate,  for  our  purposes,  it  was  desirable  to  have  a  single 
value  to  stand  for  the  ability  in  the  fundamentals  of  arithmetic 
processes. 

Table  48  shows  the  weighted  average  correlations  arranged  in 
order  of  magnitude. 

TABLE  47 

Showing  the  Pearson  coefficients  of  correlation  for  the  intelligence  quotients 
and  the  scores  made  in  the  standard  educational  tests  by  grades. 


Grade 

VII 

Grade 

VIII 

Grade 

IX 

Name  of  Test 

r 

P.E. 

r 

P.E. 

r 

P.E. 

Stone    (Eeasoning) 

0.715 

.055 

0.590 

.066 

Gregory 

0.5.59 

.082 

0.661 

.057 

Average  Grades 

0.396 

.099 

0.535 

0.65 

0.471 

.093 

Courtis   (Siuns) 

0.342 

.103 

0.306 

.087 

Kansas  S.  R. 

0.298 

.109 

0.702 

.052 

Ayres  Spelling 

0.080 

.116 

0.263 

.094 

0.298 

.114 

Ayres  Writing 

—0.350 

.102 

—0.034 

.101 

—0.159 

.120 

Douglass  Algebra 

0.397 

.481 

TABLE  48 
Showing  the  weighted   averages  of  the  coefficients   for  the   I.   Q.   and  the 
various  tests  arranged  in  order  of  magnitude. 

Test  Weighted  Average  Coefjficient 

Stone  Eeasoning  scores    0.65 

Gregory  Language  Test   0.62 

Kansas  Silent  Reading  0.53 

Average  Grades   0.48 

Courtis    (Sums)    0.32 

Ayres  Spelling   0.22 

Ayres  Writing    — 0.17 

[42  1 


University  of  Oregon  High  School 

The  correlation  between  the  grades  earned  and  the  mental  age 
ratings  is  0.42,  P.  E.,  0.76,  which  is  slightly  below  the  eoefificient 
which  Proctor  reports  for  the  111  ninth  grade  pupils  which  he 
studied  (r  equals  0.45).  The  number  of  cases  used  for  our  correla- 
tion was  117. 

If  the  pupils  of  the  school  are  classified  upon  the  basis  of  the 
I  Q.  as  before,  into  groups  of  superior,  average  and  inferior,  the 
correlations  with  the  mental  age  for  school  marks  are : 

Median        Median 
Group  N-  r  M.  A.  Grade 

Superior        50  0.23  16-3  84.1 

Average         48  0.29  14-4  80.4 

Inferior         18  0.18  11-11  77.5 

It  seems  to  be  true  that  pupils  who  are  to  be  classified  as  of 
average  ability  are  somewhat  more  likely  to  realize  results  in  school 
work  according  to  their  ability  than  are  either  very  able  or  very  dull 
pupils.  The  medians  for  mental  age  and  marks  are  quite  uniformly 
graded  among  the  three  groups  and  suggests  that  such  data  can 
throw  considerable  light  upon  a  problem  which  is  of  prime  impor- 
tance in  school  practice,  viz.,  the  realization  of  the  maximum  efforts 
of  each  pupil  and  of  the  establishment  of  just  standards  of  attain- 
ment. 

With  the  use  of  a  grading  system  like  the  one  in  use  in  the 
University  High  School  where  the  assignment  of  school  marks  must 
follow  approximately  the  distribution  of  the  normal  curve,  it  is 
possible  to  equalize  the  distribution  of  grades  and  to  attain  a 
standard  which  is  relatively  just,  /.  e.,  the  pupils  can  be  graded  with 
respect  to  each  other.  This  plan  has  generally  proved  more  work- 
able than  attempts  at  grading  upon  any  absolute  basis.  The  rela- 
tive grading  plan  does,  however,  retiuire  that  the  standards  be 
"set"  according  to  the  abilities  of  the  group  of  pupils  in  such  a 
way  as  not  to  be  unfair  to  any  particular  unit  of  the  pupils,  e.  g.,  to 
discriminate  against  the  dull  group,  or  to  prevent  differentiation  at 
the  upper  levels  in  advent  of  low  standards. 

In  order  to  attempt  to  evaluate  the  standards  used  for  grading 
in  the  University  High  School,  the  actual  distribution  of  the 
assigned  grades  will  be  compared  with  the  best-fitting  uorinal  curve 
for  this  actual  distribution.  The  table  below  shows  the  actual 
number  of  each  letter  grade  given,  the  theoretical  number  assigned 
to  the  best-fitting  curve,  and  the  approximate  numbers   for  the 

[43] 


study  of  Pupil  Development 

normal  curve.    In  using  the  letter  grades,  the  mid-points  were  taken 
as  before  as  97.5,  92.5,  87.5,  etc. 

TABLE  49 
Approximate 

Letter     Theoretical  theoretical  Actual 
Grade        numbers     numbers     numbers 


A+ 

A 

B+ 

B 

C 

D 

E 


1.56 
9.73 
29.55 
43.75 
31.40 
11.05 
1.89 


2 
10 
30 
44 
31 
11 


1 
4 
30 
51 
24 
13 
6 


Average,  82.29. 
Sigma,  5.89. 
N=129. 

It  will  be  noted  from  these  figures  that  the  actual  distribution 
of  grades  is  skewed  slightly  from  the  normal  toward  the  lower  end 
of  the  scale.  This  is  in  part  due  to  the  fact  that  the  average  grades 
are  somewhat  lower  than  the  true  grades  as  explained  in  a  preced- 
ing section,  and  partly  due  to  the  super-normal  numbers  of  very 
low  grade  pupils  in  the  school  (see  tables  of  distributions  for  the 
intelligence  quotients).  On  the  other  hand,  the  very  large  numbers 
of  exceptionally  high  grade  pupils  which  have  been  described  as 
characteristic  of  this  school,  fail  to  reveal  their  presence  in  the 
upper  ranges  of  the  grading  scale.  The  skewness  of  the  curve 
would  seem  to  mean  either  one  or  both  of  two  alternatives : 

1.  That  the  standards  are  imiformly  too  severe  in  this  school,  or 

2.  That  the  high  grade  pupils  are  not  doing  their  maximum 
quality  of  work. 

There  is  some  evidence  to  be  had  for  both  views.  In  the  first 
place,  13  C  and  6  D  grades  were  given — a  total  of  19,  whereas  the 
theoretical  indicates  but  13  failures  (D's  and  E's).  The  numbers 
of  failures  is  therefore  somewhat  excessive.  On  the  other  hand,  but 
five  pupils  receive  A  or  above  when  12  should  score  that  much 
according  to  the  normal  distribution  figures.  This,  in  view  of  the 
marked  skewness  of  the  curve  of  the  distribution  of  the  I.  Q.'s  at 
the  upper  ranges,  would  indicate  that  the  work  of  the  most  intelli- 
gent pupils  does  not  approach  the  maximum  attainment  to  as  per- 
fect a  degree  as  for  other  groups.  The  truth  of  this  conclusion 
again  must  be  tempered  in  the  light  of  the  fact  that  children  of 
superior  ability  tend  to  be  accelerated  and  are  thus  subjected  to 


44 


University  of  Oregon  High  School 

greater  competition  than  normal  children.  All  in  all,  the  evidence 
does  not  seem  to  point  to  the  existence  of  any  considerable  injustice 
to  any  group  arising  from  the  standards  of  scholarship  in  the 
school,  but  it  does  show  that  with  more  attention  to  the  assignment 
of  grades  there  could  be  maintained  a  somewhat  closer  approxima- 
tion to  the  theoretical  curve,  particularly  in  the  extreme  ranges. 

As  to  the  possibility  that  the  most  able  pupils  do  not  realize  as 
fully  their  highest  possible  attainment  as  do  the  normal  and  inferior 
groups,  the  evidence  follows : 

TABLE  50 

Giving  the  median  scores  for  the  Superior  (I.  Q. 's  111  or  above),  Average 
(I.   Q.'s   90-110),   and   Inferior    (I.   Q.'s   89   or   less)    groups   for   all   grades. 


Sexes  combined. 
Group         No. 

C.A. 

M.A. 

I.Q. 

Alpha 

Chicago 

Average 
Grades 

Superior         50 
Average          50 
Inferior          20 

13-1 
14-4 
15-8 

16-2 
14-3 
11-10 

121.0 

101.0 

84.5 

108.0 
81.0 
65.0 

45.0 
36.0 
25.5 

83.0 
81.0 
77.0 

It  will  be  noted  that  although  the  average  pupil  earns  grades 
four  points  above  the  inferior,  the  superior  pupil  earns  but  two 
points  more  than  the  average.  In  practically  all  of  the  scores  except 
the  grades  the  medians  for  the  superior  group  are  higher  by  a 
larger  margin  from  the  average  than  the  latter  are  in  turn  from  the 
inferior,  but  at  the  same  time  it  must  be  remembered  that  the 
superior  pupils  are  actually  younger  than  the  others  and  are  likely 
to  be  accelerated  and  hence  subjected  to  more  intense  competition. 
The  evidence  is  therefore  not  very  conclusive. 

In  conclusion  it  should  be  pointed  out  that  many  other  lines  of 
investigation,  conclusions,  applications,  and  the  like,  have  been 
suggested  which,  for  reasons  of  the  limitations  of  space,  must  be 
neglected.  Specifically  there  are  certain  questions  involving  the 
diagnostic  values  of  tests  of  intelligence  or  of  pedagogical  accom- 
plishment which  are  deserving  of  attention.  One  such  case  was 
pointed  out  in  passing  in  the  matter  of  the  discovery  of  the  reasons 
for  the  poor  showing  of  the  three  arithmetic  sections  in  the  funda- 
mentals of  arithmetic.  Here  it  was  possible  to  cheek  up  the  testi- 
mony of  the  teachers  concerned,  with  the  more  objective  measures 
of  experimental  education.  That  the  teachers  were  agreed  upon  the 
position  that  the  fault  was  to  be  traced  to  poor  instruction  in  the 
lower  grades  of  the  elementarj-  school  suggested  the  plan  of  check- 
ing the  abilities  in  the  four  fundamental  processes  as  measured  by 

[45] 


SUcdy  of  Pupil  Development 

the  Courtis  tests  against  the  more  intellectual  processes  of  reasoning 
and  inference  brought  into  play  in  the  tests  devised  by  Stone.  In 
case  of  the  latter,  as  well  as  in  the  former,  the  accuracy  scores 
revealed  again  the  early  weakness  of  formal  instruction  in  this 
subject,  but  at  the  same  time,  indicated  a  tendency  toward  improve- 
ment under  the  force  of  later  instruction  and  also  that  there  was  no 
sub-normal  accomplishment  in  the  types  of  problems  characteristic 
of  the  higher  parts  of  the  elementary  school  curriculum.  Actual 
tracing  back  of  the  difficulty  through  the  lower  grades  in  consulta- 
tion with  the  Superintendent  of  the  Eugene  Schools  revealed  cor- 
roborative evidence  that  these  pupils  had  received  the  Utajor  portion 
of  their  instruction  in  the  fundamentals  of  arithmetic  at  the  hands 
of  an  unskilled  teacher  who  was  later  dismissed  from  the  system. 
This  evidence  establishes  almost  beyond  doubt  the  correctness  of  the 
inferences  drawn  from  examination  and  comparison  of  the  scores 
from  the  two  standard  arithmetic  tests. 

Other  questions  of  the  diagnostic  values  of  the  various  types  of 
tests  might  well  be  considered  if  space  were  available,  since  there  is 
every  indication  that  this  phase  of  school  measurement  is  but  be- 
ginning to  attract  the  attention  of  workers  in  the  elementary  field. 
Diagnosis  will  in  all  probability  be  a  prime  characteristic  of  the 
newer  tests  and  the  newer  methods  of  experimental  education.  If 
any  new  light  has  been  shed  upon  the  application  of  experimental 
methods  in  the  course  of  this  survey  of  a  single  school,  the  efforts 
expended  are  well  repaid. 


SUMMARY 

Briefly  stated  the  main  conclusions  presented  in  this  discussion 
are : 

1.  In  view  of  the  value  of  the  results  of  intelligence  testing 
from  the  administrative  angle,  the  amount  of  time  required  for 
tests  cannot  reasonably  be  held  to  be  prohibitive. 

2.  Group  tests  will  not  ordinarily  be  found  satisfactory  for 
individual  diagnosis,  but  will  usually  suffice  for  the  purposes  of 
mass  measurements. 

3.  Teachers'  estimates  of  intelligence  are  not  likely  to  prove 
substitutes  for  individual  testing,  even  if  the  reliability  of  such 
estimates  might  be  very  high,  because  the  data  on  those  pupils  mis- 
judged by  their  teachers  is  the  very  data  which  are  most  needed. 

[46] 


University  of  Oregon  High  School 


4.  The  pupils  of  the  University  High  School  were  found  to  be 
a  composite  group  composed  of  two  distinct  elements ;  first,  pupils 
from  Universit}'  faculty  homes  and  other  homes  of  professional 
people,  and  secondly,  pupils  representative  of  homes  of  low  economic 
level.  These  factors  must  necessarily  be  reckoned  with  in  the  inter- 
pretation of  certain  of  the  findings. 

5.  Group  test  "Army  Alpha"  was  found  to  have  a  somewhat 
greater  reliability  than  the  "Chicago  Group  Intelligence  Test"  in 
comparison  with  the  Binet  tests. 

6.  Retardation  as  a  school  problem  must  shortly  be  re-studied 
in  the  light  of  the  newer  facts  of  individual  differences  brought 
forward  by  the  use  of  intelligence  tests  and  other  objective  measures. 

7.  In  the  majority  of  cases,  pupils  classified  as  retarded  by  the 
usual  standards  are  really  accelerated  upon  the  basis  of  mental  age, 
and  the  reverse  is  true  for  accelerated  pupils. 

8.  Accelerated  pupils,  although  actualh^  younger,  are  able  to 
more  than  maintain  their  position  in  competition  with  children  who 
are  "at  age"  as  is  shown  by  school  marks,  but  retarded  pupils  do 
not  succeed  in  holding  their  own  in  their  class  in  spite  of  their 
greater  age. 

9.  Retarded  pupils  furnish  about  three-fifths  of  the  total  fail- 
ures of  the  school. 

10.  The  pupils  of  the  Universit\'  High  School  show  satisfactory 
abilities  in  all  school  subjects  tested  except  arithmetic  and  writing. 
In  the  case  of  the  former  the  reason  was  proved  to  lie  in  poor 
instruction  in  the  lower  grades. 

11.  Boys  are  slightly  inferior  to  girls  as  measured  by  the  grades 
received  in  school.  The  range  of  grades  is  somewhat  larger  in  the 
case  of  the  girls. 

12.  The  results  of  the  Stone  tests  seem  to  indicate  that  the  diffi- 
culties in  arithmetic  are  to  be  diagnosed  as  inability  to  handle  the 
fundamental  processes  in  contrast  with  the  ability-  to  reason. 

13.  The  physical  measurements  show  that  the  Oregon  pupils 
are  both  taller  and  heavier  than  eastern  children.  The  only  jnib- 
lished  norms  which  approximate  the  results  for  the  western  children 
are  those  of  Baldwin. 

14.  The  most  marked  superiority  of  the  University  High  School 
pupils  in  the  physical  traits  studied  was  found  to  be  the  much  better 
development  of  lung  capacity  and  the  vital  index. 

[47] 


Study  of  Pupil  Development 


15.  The  new  method  of  correlating  physical  and  mental  traits 
advocated  here  seemed  to  indicate  the  presence  of  correlation  be- 
tween the  vital  index  and  intelligence. 

16.  Strength  of  grip  did  not  seem  to  show  relation  with  intelli- 
gence, at  least  not  in  the  case  of  girls. 

17.  The  possibility  of  the  use  of  intelligence  tests  and  tests  of 
pedagogical  accomplishment  as  the  basis  for  promotions,  grading, 
and  similar  questions  of  school  progress,  is  rapidly  becoming  evi- 
dent as  a  method  of  surmounting  the  lock-step  evil  in  education. 

18.  Forced  promotions,  where  unavoidable,  can  be  made  with  a 
high  degree  of  reliability  by  the  use  of  objective  measures. 

19.  Correlations  of  abilities  in  school  subjects  with  general 
intelligence  show  the  highest  coefficients  in  the  language  and  rea- 
soning tests  and  the  lowest  in  spelling  and  writing.  School  marks 
and  arithmetical  ability  are  intermediate. 

20.  The  grading  system  of  the  University  High  School  is  prob- 
ably too  severely  enforced  at  the  upper  ranges  as  is  shown  by  super- 
imposing the  best-fitting  normal  curve  on  the  actual  distribution. 
There  is  also  some  evidence  that  the  superior  child  fails  to  approach 
maximal  efficiency  as  closely  as  do  less  able  pupils. 


[48] 


§   I 


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